


Standing on the Edge

by StellaScribbles



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, anakin is the disaster dad of three disaster children, anyway please don't take this seriously because i don't, everyone lives in this because i couldn't stand killing them off yet again, everyone sasses each other so much in this, lots of emphasis on family and sibling relationships, suicidal thoughts aren't explicitly mentioned but they're heavily implied
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23730142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaScribbles/pseuds/StellaScribbles
Summary: There are three Skywalker children: Luke, Leia, and their older sibling Kiri. When Kiri finds out who their birth parents are, and how Anakin became Darth Vader, they seek him out to tell him their identity, expecting it to be the last thing they ever do. Instead, telling him who they are somehow convinces him to betray the Empire and join the Alliance.
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano & Original Character(s), Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader & Original Character(s), Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Leia Organa & Original Character(s), Luke Skywalker & Original Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Risk and Reward

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a silly dream I had that my coworker enjoyed so much after I told her about it that she insisted I write it as a fic.
> 
> Not meant to be taken seriously. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiri boards Darth Vader’s ship Devastator to tell him they’re his child, expecting that he’ll kill them.

Kiri cut the engines the second their ship, the _Tenacity_ , dropped out of hyperspace. Immediately, there was a thrum of anticipation ringing in the Force. It was neither a good nor a bad feeling. The Star Destroyer _Devastator_ hung before them. Kiri had tracked the ship to a stretch of empty space far to the galactic south of the Core. The _Tenacity_ drifted toward it. Kiri closed their eyes and breathed a quick prayer, hoping this would work. Their plan was quite risky, but they couldn’t think of any other way for a rebel pilot to get an audience with Darth Vader, short of being captured. And Kiri wasn’t nearly important enough to be kept alive long enough to actually talk to him.

  
This was a conversation that had waited a lifetime. In the months since Kiri had found out, they’d cycled through many emotions: anger, fear, curiosity, and sorrow had been their main feelings. After the months it’d taken them to research, form a plan, and track Vader down, their emotions had quietly left, and now they were filled with an eerie calm that almost made them miss the anger. But this wasn’t a revenge quest. They just wanted to tell someone the whole truth for once. It might as well be him.

  
Kiri managed to lock the _Tenacity_ onto the underbelly of Vader’s ship near a trash disposal airlock. They shut all the computers down and left the cockpit. They’d stolen a set of stormtrooper armor, but they were hoping they’d be able to get to Vader without being seen, even in disguise. Still, the armor would be useful for getting from their ship to Vader’s. They pulled on the armor quickly and left their ship. They jumped to the airlock, catching themself on the edge of it. They pried open the control panel next to the door and rewired it to let themself in.

  
The airlock door opened with a hiss and a whoosh of air. Kiri pulled themself inside and hit the button to close the doors. The room re-pressurized and the air settled. Kiri wrinkled their nose at the mounds of trash all around them, grateful that, for the moment, their helmet protected them from the stench.

  
Kiri crossed the room and found the door that led to the corridor outside. They stripped off the armor and tossed it into the nearest trash pile. No matter how this ended, they wouldn’t need it again. They gagged on the smell of the garbage, mourning the protection of the helmet, and turned toward the door. There likely weren’t any guards outside this room. They’d just have to trust their luck, or the Force, that no one would be walking by. They hit the door button and flattened themself to the inside wall just in case, listening carefully. They heard nothing, so they cautiously stepped into the hallway.

  
Down here in the bottom deck of the ship, the corridor was a dimly lit tunnel lined with pipes. A few feet down from the trash room door, Kiri saw a grate cover to a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. They hurried to it, pulling it open and jumping up inside. They replaced the grate silently.

They wanted to find a place to talk to Vader that wasn’t in his quarters. That would be far too close to the main parts of the ship. They needed to find a way to lure him down here, where there was more privacy. Finding his quarters shouldn’t be terribly hard. Kiri had studied schematics of other Star Destroyers, and they were mostly all the same. They knew where to go. They just had to hope that Vader was there.

  
They crawled through the shaft until they found a vent running vertically. The schematics they’d memorized had paid little attention to the vents, but they did include the main lines. This was one of them, and it should take them to the level that Vader’s quarters were on. It was wider than their arm span.

  
Luckily, Kiri had prepared for this. About twenty feet above their head and across the shaft was another horizontal vent. They knelt to the floor, gripping the edge of their own vent. Kiri took a deep breath and leapt for the opening above them. They landed heavily inside the vent and fell over onto their side with a grunt. They’d have to be more quiet as they went higher. They caught their breath and sat up, getting ready for the next jump. This was a central shaft. There were horizontal vents every twenty feet or so, with openings on both sides. They’d be able to zigzag their way up to the top decks of the ship by using Force-aided jumps from vent to vent.

  
 _Here we go_ , Kiri sighed to themself. They breathed deep, let themself feel trust in their own ability in every muscle, and jumped.

  
Several jumps later, at the top, they leaned out over the main ventilation shaft and whistled quietly. It was a long, long way down. They sat back against the wall of the horizontal vent and closed their eyes to better concentrate on their mental map of the ship. Vader’s quarters were to the right about two hundred feet down the shaft. If their theory was right, there’d be a smaller vent branching off this one to run above the rooms on this level. It’d be a much smaller one. Luckily, Kiri was a small person.

  
Twenty feet in, there was an opening about three feet across just above their head. Kiri reached up and pulled themself in. The vent angled up sharply, rising quickly and turning not far in. It leveled out after the turn and widened by a few feet. Every so often there were grates with light coming through from the rooms below. Kiri laid on their stomach and began to crawl. They peered through grate after grate, estimating how far along the vent they’d come. Kiri wasn’t sure what they were looking for in a room. They doubted they’d be lucky enough to look down and see Vader right away. Or maybe unlucky enough. If Vader saw them up here, their chances of succeeding would plummet.

  
They stopped about two hundred feet from where they started, looking through a grate into a room bigger than the others they’d crossed so far. A thrill went down their spine and their hair stood on end. Unnatural cold seemed to seep into the room from the corridor outside. Kiri tried not to shiver. A whisper in the Force told them not to move.

  
A moment later, the door to the room opened with a hiss and Darth Vader himself strode through it. Kiri expected a cloud of dark anger to surround him, filling the Force, but strangely enough, the only thing they felt from him was fatigue and annoyance.

  
He stopped suddenly halfway across the room. Afraid he’d sensed them, Kiri mentally pictured themself melting into nothing but air and shadows, leaving nothing of themself behind to make an impression in the Force. It seemed to work. Vader kept walking, toward a large black pod that Kiri couldn’t discern a purpose for.

  
Once he was closer, Kiri allowed a tiny thread, carrying a single thought, to flow along the Force toward Vader.

  
 _Come to the lower levels_ , the thought whispered. _There’s a gift waiting for you there._

  
Kiri knew the instant the thought reached Vader. He stopped walking again, and his whole body visibly stiffened. As soon as the thought was out Kiri slammed up their mental shields and disappeared again. They must remain undetected until the moment they chose to reveal themself. Kiri didn’t wait to see how Vader would react to their call. They slid backward along the vent, moving silently. It was an unpleasant slide out and down into the larger vent below.

  
Once they were no longer a mere few feet above Vader’s head, they allowed a tiny bit of themself to bleed out into the Force, just enough for him to sense them. Sweat broke out on their forehead from the effort of maintaining such control. They’d had much practice shielding their mind, thanks to their teacher. But they needed Vader to follow them, and that required him knowing vaguely where they were.

  
 _This way_ , they baited. They felt an answering touch of suspicious curiosity. Smirking, Kiri ran toward the main vertical shaft. They leapt out the end of the vent and hit the opposite wall, only to spring off of it again. It was nearly the opposite of how they’d ascended, at a much faster pace. They could still feel Vader’s presence following them down. Most likely, there wasn’t anywhere on the ship they could get out of his range. It didn’t matter much more anyway. They wanted him to find them, after all. They landed in a shaft just a few levels above the very bottom where they’d entered. Vader was still far above them. He was coming, sure enough, but he didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry. Kiri took a moment to wonder why, then they shook their head and crawled down the vent, looking for a grate into the actual corridor on this level.

  
There was one not too far ahead of them. They dropped silently to the floor and scanned the rooms around them for signs of life. There was an empty room just down the hall to the right. Kiri entered and looked around. The light was dim, and the ceiling was high above. There were tall rows of shelving filling the room, with a wide aisle down the center. This would do fine.

  
They chose a shelf near the back, between two lights that cast a shadow, just off the main aisle. The goal here wasn’t to make themself hard to find. They climbed up the shelf and knelt on the top. Now they just had to wait. Kiri mentally wrapped themself in shadow, imagining that they were just air and darkness and dust. Lots of dust. These shelves were not clean.

  
Vader’s presence came closer and closer. Oddly enough, he was only curious, with a thread of suspicion running underneath. It was almost like he’d been bored, before, and now Kiri’s teasing bait had given him something to do.

  
The door slid open and shut. The sound of Vader’s breathing filled the room. Kiri waited silently.

  
“Your shielding is impressive, but if you think that will hide you forever, you are sorely mistaken,” Vader rumbled.

  
“If I was trying to hide I wouldn’t have brought you down here,” Kiri answered. “Hiding from you is rather the opposite of my goal.”

  
“Yet still you cling to the shadows.” He stepped forward, walking slowly down the main aisle. Undoubtedly he knew exactly where Kiri was.

  
“I’m not stupid. That’s one of the many things I get from you, I suppose,” Kiri mused. “Aren’t you going to ask who I am?”

  
“Your name matters little to me,” Vader said dismissively, his nonchalant steps continuing.

  
“What if I told you it was Skywalker?” Kiri asked. Their brother used the family name, why couldn’t they? “Though I suppose I should ask permission to use the name before claiming it for myself. You will let me use your name, won’t you, Father?” they asked, grinning into the darkness to their left. He was just a few steps away now.

  
Vader stopped walking and stilled, his presence in the Force shrinking. His emotions roiled within him before he wrestled them under control behind impenetrable shields.

“It cannot be,” he said. He sounded like someone had just run a lightsaber through him.

  
“You know, when I first found out that my biological father was the terror of the galaxy, I should have been scared, and angry. I’m a rebel, fighting against your side. You want to kill all the rebels, which means you want me dead.” Kiri moved into the light to their right, still crouching on top of the shelf, looking down at Vader below them. He looked up, his black mask reflecting only the light above Kiri.

  
“But it was hard to feel much fear or anger after what happened on my home planet. You see, before I was ever a rebel, the people who raised me had decided they wanted me dead first, and they actually tried to do it. You want to know why?”

  
Vader’s head tilted to the side. He didn’t interrupt.

  
“They tried to raise me as a girl. When I told them I’m not a girl, and not a boy either, they didn’t like that. But they didn’t go for murder until they found out I was dating a girl. That, for them, is enough of a reason to kill me. When I compared that to you, I figured you were the better option. I mean, at least your reasons for wanting me dead are better than theirs.” Kiri stood up on the shelf, holding their arms wide to the side. “So I’m not afraid of you, Darth Vader, my Father. Here I am, right in front of you. I’m not particularly important to the rebellion, but I did manage to sneak onto your ship undetected, so I imagine that’s not a skill you want your enemies to be able to use. Go right ahead and kill me. It’d be better than what’s waiting for me on my home planet if I ever go back.”

  
Vader stood silent, his feet stuck to the floor like he might put down roots. There was no sound but the rasp of his breath. He looked at Kiri, his mask as blank as ever. The Force revealed nothing of his emotions. He’d pulled them back inside himself like closing a vault.

  
Kiri dropped their own shields and jumped into a front flip off the shelf, using the Force to cushion their landing right in front of him. “It really wouldn’t be that hard. I’m not even armed,” they said. They pointed at the lightsaber clipped to Vader’s belt. “If I may be allowed to choose the manner of my death, I think I’d prefer that to Force-choking, if you don’t mind.”

  
Vader’s only motion had been to lower his head as Kiri fell. He looked down at them now. Vader was tall, and though Kiri wasn’t short, exactly, they felt very small standing in front of him. They tried to breathe normally as they waited for him to do or say something.

  
“You truly are my child?” Vader asked. There was a tentative mental nudge in the Force. Despite Kiri’s wide-open mind, he was still asking permission to make contact. Kiri couldn’t believe it.

  
“If I’m not, there’s a list of people that have a hell of a lot to answer for,” Kiri quipped. “But I can feel it, can’t you? The Force knows the truth of it.” They’d felt it on Tatooine, and they’d felt it again on Yavin. It was undeniable, even as much as they’d first wished they could deny it.

  
Vader nodded slowly. A gentle thread of emotion wove through the Force from him. Disbelief, terrible grief, burning anger, cold empty hate, and a reckless love that shone like Tatooine’s twin suns wrapped around Kiri like a thick blanket.

  
“I will not kill my own child,” Vader declared. “Especially not for loving someone.”

  
Kiri blinked. “Well,” they said. “This was not what I expected when I decided to go looking for Darth Vader.”

  
“Please,” Vader said. “Call me Anakin. Of course you can use my name, my child.”

  
Kiri grinned. The darkness in the air lifted rather suddenly, and Anakin’s Force presence brightened like a rising sun. The temperature of the room rose noticeably. “Unexpected doesn’t mean unwelcome. Kiri Skywalker; I like that. What happens now, Anakin?” They cocked their head. “Sure you don’t want me to call you Dad?” they said with a smirk.

  
Kiri imagined Anakin grimacing behind his mask. “Perhaps not just yet,” he said. “As for what happens now…” He looked toward the door of the room and sighed. “I have much work to do. I must right the wrongs I have caused. Peace must be restored to the galaxy.”

  
Kiri’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “I’m sorry, what? You’ve spent the last twenty years terrorizing the galaxy, but after a five-minute conversation with the kid you didn’t know you had, you’ve decided to what, turn rebel?”

  
Anakin looked back at Kiri. “I have spent nineteen long years drowning in the dark side of the Force, wallowing in self-hatred and despair. I thought you were dead alongside your mother. Now I find out that one of you lived, and I am no longer alone in the dark. What else can I do?”

  
Kiri nodded. They could feel the burn of his new sense of purpose. “I understand. Will you let me help you?”

  
Anakin nodded. “Of course. Now that you’ve found me I won’t let you go easily. ” He looked around the dusty storeroom. “Let’s go somewhere else to talk. How’d you get up to my quarters, anyway?”

  
“The ventilation shafts,” Kiri answered. “I got on the ship through the trash room.”

  
Anakin chuckled, an odd sound with his raspy breath. “I imagine you’d prefer to take a different route back up.”

  
Kiri hesitated. “How will we get there without being seen?”

  
Anakin cocked his head. “This is my ship, is it not? You are an honored guest of mine, and my troops will treat you with respect if they know what’s good for them.”

  
“Fair enough,” Kiri conceded. They gestured to the door. “Lead the way, _my lord_ ,” they said, snickering.

  
If Anakin’s expression had been visible, Kiri was certain he’d be glaring at them. He turned around, his cape snapping out behind him, and strode to the door with long steps. They stepped together out into the corridor.

A comlink in Anakin’s suit beeped shrilly. He paused to take the call. “Captain,” he said shortly.

  
 _“Pardon the intrusion, Lord Vader,”_ the ship’s captain said. _“I noticed that you have not yet returned to your quarters. Is everything alright?”_

  
Kiri imagined that Anakin rolled his eyes at that. What business of the captain’s was it if he wasn’t in his quarters?

  
“I was greeting an unexpected guest,” Anakin answered. “I am bringing them to the bridge. Have the quartermaster prepare a guest suite for them immediately.”

  
_“Yes, my lord. Of course, my lord. I will give the order at once.”_

  
The com disconnected abruptly, and Anakin sighed. “That was convenient, I suppose. He needed to know you were here eventually.”

  
Kiri followed Anakin as he swept down the tunnel and into an elevator. He entered a password into the keypad and pressed the button for the bridge level. The elevator began to move.

  
Anakin cleared his throat awkwardly. “So. You came to find me.”

  
Kiri raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes? I said that.” _Here we are_ , they didn’t say.

  
“Why?”

  
Kiri hesitated. Honestly, they weren’t sure. It was pretty stupid of them to actively seek out a well-known Sith Lord with a reputation for killing anyone who crossed him, whether they were related to him or not. And yet, things had turned out pretty well for them. “I don’t know,” they said eventually. “I guess I just wanted to know for myself what you were really like.”

  
“You mean you wanted to know if I was really as evil as everyone says,” Anakin said, carefully not looking at Kiri.

  
“Oh, no, I fully believed all the stories,” Kiri answered. “I mean, I was expecting you to kill me for daring to sneak onto your ship. But I needed someone else to know the full truth about me, even if I didn’t get to enjoy it.”

  
There was a long moment of silence as Anakin processed this. “Who trained you in the Force?” he asked abruptly. It sounded like he was wondering if one person in particular was Kiri’s teacher.

  
Kiri hesitated. They’d told their teacher before they left what they intended to do. She had warned them it was a suicidal path, but hadn’t stopped them. Would she approve of this? Who knew what she’d think if she ever saw Anakin again.

  
They cleared their throat. “Ahsoka,” they said softly. She’d been the one to tell them that Anakin had become Vader. She’d told them her shared history with him, and so much about him. They knew what she meant to him.

  
“She’s alive?” Anakin asked slowly.

  
“Yes. She knows I came looking for you.”

  
“She taught you well.”

  
“She learned from the best,” Kiri said sincerely. Force, what an odd day this was. They were standing next to _Darth kriffing Vade_ r in an elevator, talking to him about his former padawan.

  
The elevator dinged a moment later, and the doors opened up onto the bridge. Anakin strode forward toward the wide transparisteel windows encircling the room, Kiri a step behind. At the sound of the elevator doors opening, or perhaps the sound of Anakin’s breathing filling the room, the captain turned around to greet them. Stormtroopers and Imperial officers in the room all stopped what they were doing to stiffly salute Anakin. He ignored them all as he passed, walking directly up to the captain, who bowed nervously.

  
Kiri came to stop at Anakin’s side, leaving a respectful distance between them. He gestured to them. “Captain, this is Kiri. They are my personal guest, and will be staying here for a few days. Have quarters been prepared for them?”

  
“Yes, my lord,” the captain said. He bowed briefly to Kiri. “Shall I have an officer escort them to their suite?”

  
“I will take them myself,” Anakin answered. He gestured to a trooper standing nearby. The soldier snapped to attention, saluted, and walked over as quickly as he could without running. “There is a ship locked onto the hull of the ship near the trash release airlock. Go and bring it to the main hangar,” Anakin ordered. The trooper saluted again and retreated from the bridge as if he were being pulled away. Anakin turned back to the captain. “Set coordinates for the Horuz system; we have a new mission,” he said briskly, offering no other explanation.

  
Kiri tried not to smile at the captain’s obvious confusion. The poor man didn’t need another reason to be nervous. And Kiri wasn’t entirely sure what Anakin was doing themself. He hadn’t said anything about his plans for ‘righting his wrongs’ yet. He was apparently done speaking to the captain, though. He turned around, his cape swirling against Kiri’s legs, and strode back toward the elevator so quickly it caught Kiri off guard. They hurried to catch up to him, glancing back at the captain, who immediately turned to another officer to pass on Anakin’s orders.

  
The elevator door slid shut as soon as Kiri was inside and they began descending back to the level that Anakin’s suite was on. Kiri glanced at him out of the corner of their eye. They wish he had visible expressions to read. Between the suit and his steel-like mental shields he was a very stoic person.

  
“So…” they ventured after a moment. “What, exactly, is the new mission?”

  
Kiri got the distinct mental impression that Anakin was grinning mischievously. “Something I’ve been wanting to do for years,” he answered.

  
That really wasn’t very informative. Kiri thought back to all the stories Ahsoka had told them. If any of those were even halfway true, Anakin was probably planning on doing something reckless, dramatic, and arrogant. If he was now working against the Empire to bring peace back to the galaxy, he certainly wasn’t going to be subtle about it.

  
The elevator opened up onto their level. Anakin led them to a door not far down the corridor. “You should find the suite to your satisfaction. There are serving droids that will get you anything you need.” He paused. “And my quarters are just down the hall, should you need me.” He reached out a hand and patted Kiri on the shoulder twice. “It was nice to meet you, Kiri,” he said stiffly.

  
“Um. Thanks,” Kiri said. His hand was still on their shoulder. “You, too, Anakin.” They reached out and pressed the button to open the door to their rooms. Anakin suddenly removed his hand with a cough. He swirled around and took off down the hallway.

  
Kiri watched him go, face burning with embarrassment on his behalf. How many years had it been since Anakin had needed to be friendly toward someone? They shook their head and entered the suite. Maybe Kiri meeting him would save him in more ways than one. Clearly he needed someone to practice being less socially awkward with. They hoped he didn’t try to be _fatherly_ with them just yet. That would just be uncomfortable for everyone involved. It was good he was keeping Kiri around for a few days so they could work with him on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the absurdity of my subconscious brain.
> 
> I'm not worried about making sure the small details line up with canon (for example the layout of star destroyers), I care mostly about getting characters where I want them to be.
> 
> Yes, Kiri is nonbinary, and this will be respected by all characters. No misgendering here.
> 
> Also, I love Ahsoka so I wanted to use her. I've seen some of TCW but none of Rebels, so I'm not trying at all to stick to her canon story during the Empire era. I'm just yanking her out of canon and putting her here instead.


	2. Dramatic Explosions are an Everyday Occurrence with the Skywalkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiri is right: Anakin is absolutely not subtle about his new plan to defy the Empire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter by asking myself "What's the funniest, stupidest thing I could have the characters do?" and then making them do that, so, yes, it's supposed to be dumb. Enjoy.

Anakin didn’t try to interact with Kiri for nearly a full day. They’d explored their suite, which was far more luxurious than Kiri was used to. The _Tenacity_ was now docked in the _Devastator’s_ main hangar, so they’d gone to bring a few of their possessions up to the guest suite. It’d been very strange to openly walk through an Imperial Star Destroyer and have stormtroopers stop to salute to them every time they passed one in the halls.

  
Kiri had enjoyed the fancy refresher and the fully-stocked conservator. They’d spent hours lounging on a super comfortable sofa while flicking through holonet channels, idling watching whatever was on. Most of it was Imperial propaganda, but it was fun to laugh at some of the nonsense lies that were being spread around the galaxy. The bed had been wonderfully soft, so much so that Kiri had a difficult time waking up after a long nap. They weren’t sure what time in the day cycle they’d arrived on Anakin’s ship. Most things displaying the time were set to Coruscant’s cycle, but that didn’t mean much to Kiri way out here in space. So they’d slept when they felt tired and got up—or tried to—when they felt less tired.

  
And there was still nothing from Anakin. Kiri figured he was probably avoiding them because he had no idea how to interact with them. They wondered if they were allowed on the bridge. Even if they weren’t, it’d be funny to go up there anyway and watch the captain try to kick them out without offending them. The few people Kiri had come across seemed almost as nervous around them as they did around Anakin, no doubt because they all thought Kiri would report any disrespect directly to him.

  
But Kiri didn’t want to be mean to people just for their own entertainment. And holding the implied threat of Anakin’s wrath over their heads—even if Kiri wouldn’t ever actually say anything to him—was pretty mean. So Kiri let the holonews play in the background while they finished reading an Alderaanian novel on the datapad they’d brought with them and waited for Anakin to fill them in on what his plan was.

  
Kiri had just finished eating an extremely sugary pastry from some planet in the Mid Rim when Anakin finally knocked on their door. They licked their fingers and called for him to come in. The door slid open and he walked in, stopping abruptly when he saw Kiri. He probably hadn’t been expecting to see them sprawled out on the sofa with a datapad in one hand and another pastry in the other.

  
They gestured with the datapad to the box of pastries that the serving droid had brought them. “Want one?” they asked. Kiri realized a beat too late that they had no idea if Anakin could even eat them—he never took off his mask, so he must have reasons for wearing it beyond intimidation. “Er—sorry, I guess you can’t,” they backpedaled. “Or can you?”

  
Anakin cleared his throat. “I’m… not hungry, but… thanks. Anyway—I came to tell you that we’ve arrived at the planet Despayre in the Horuz system. When you’re… ready… I would like you to join me.” He paused and turned his head fractionally to look at the box of pastries. “I’ll wait outside,” he said, and left.

  
Kiri stuffed the rest of the pastry into their mouth and wiped the sugar off their hands. They chewed rapidly as they walked and swallowed just before leaving the room.

  
Anakin seemed relieved that Kiri had finished eating. He led them to the massive main hangar, where the _Tenacity_ was, as well as Anakin’s personal ships. He took them to a TIE fighter. Kiri raised an eyebrow at him.

  
“TIE fighters are designed for only one person, so it may be a bit of a squeeze, but I think you’ll fit in with me,” Anakin said.

  
“Where are we going that we need to take a single TIE fighter?” Kiri asked, hoping Anakin would actually explain something now.

  
“You’ll see,” he said simply. He opened the fighter’s hatch with the Force and gestured to the stairs that led to it.

  
Kiri climbed up and peered down through the hatch. They’d never been in a TIE fighter before. The _Tenacity_ was a tiny Corellian freighter, and the ship they flew for the Rebel Alliance was an old Republic X-Wing. A TIE was basically just a spherical cockpit with the two engine-wings to either side of it. Anakin was right, there was really only room for one person. They glanced back down at him. Did he realize how massive he was? Anakin was easily seven feet tall. “Are you sure we’ll both fit?” they asked skeptically.

  
“You’re tiny,” Anakin said dismissively. “It’ll be fine.”

  
Shrugging, Kiri lowered themself into the ship. There was a small space behind the pilot’s chair that they squeezed themself carefully into. A moment later, Anakin appeared at the hatch. He jumped down into his chair, effectively smothering Kiri with his cape.

  
They brushed it off their head, spluttering. “Do you ever take this thing off?” they asked indignantly.

  
Anakin tugged it down and tucked it to one side. “No.” He started up the engines, flicking various switches. The ship hummed all around them. Anakin flew toward the magnetically shielded hangar door.

  
Kiri crossed their arms, more because it was the only comfortable position they could be in short of fully leaning on Anakin’s shoulder than because they were annoyed. “You like being cryptic, don’t you?”

  
“I do, actually,” Anakin said. “It’s more dramatic that way.” The ship left the hangar, zooming out into open space. “Besides,” Anakin added, “you’ll enjoy this more if you don’t know what’s coming.”

  
Kiri wasn’t sure about that. But a highly-restricted Imperial secret was bound to be a good thing to see anyway. Anakin flew over the _Devastator_ to reveal a planet on its far side. Kiri had never heard of Horuz or Despayre before, and they couldn’t think of a reason why the Empire might keep a prized secret here. They guessed that they were somewhere in the Outer Rim, but they had no way to confirm that. Despayre had several moons orbiting it. Anakin appeared to be steering for one of them. As he flew, he _finally_ offered an explanation for Kiri.

  
“It’s called the Death Star. The Emperor began construction on this many years ago, when the galaxy was still ruled by the Republic. When I… joined him, he showed the plans to me early on. What he doesn’t know is that his little project has a terrible fatal flaw. I spotted it immediately, but didn’t tell the Emperor, because for years I’ve been hoping the project would fail. Unfortunately, it is nearing completion now, and will soon be tested. So I’ve come to exploit this flaw, and destroy the Force-damned thing myself.”  
Kiri peered out through the transparisteel front of the TIE. As they drew closer to Anakin’s target, Kiri realized that it wasn’t, in fact, a moon. It was a giant battle station. “Do I want to know what that thing is capable of?” Kiri asked.

  
“You certainly wouldn’t want to see it,” Anakin said. “Supposedly, when it’s fully operational, it will have the power to obliterate an entire planet in one blast. But we’re here to make sure it never reaches that potential.”

  
“Wow,” Kiri said. “I understand why you want to destroy it.” They watched it grow bigger and bigger as they neared, until it fill the fighter’s entire view port. “But wait, didn’t you say you’ve been wanting to do this for years? If you’ve been loyal to the Emperor until just now, why would you have wanted to destroy it years ago?”

  
“Because only the Force should have that much power,” he answered.

  
Kiri nodded, accepting that at face value. Planet-wide destruction should not be in the capability of any person. Even in service to the dark side, Anakin was faithful enough to the Force to realize that.

  
“And all of the officers overseeing its construction are faithless bastards,” Anakin added a moment later. “This is as much for spite as it is for justice.”

  
Kiri shook their head. Of course he was motivated largely by spite.

  
They were close enough now for the officers on the battle station to contact them. Anakin responded to them impatiently, giving his clearance codes quickly. The minute the hailing officer realized who he was talking to, his tone changed. He hurried to tell Anakin that he could immediately proceed to his usual hangar, and apologized for not expecting his arrival. Anakin ignored him completely and turn off the fighter’s comm. He flew right past the hangar and close to the Death Star’s surface. Kiri could see a deep trench running around the station’s circumference, where the equator might be if this was a planet. Anakin took them right down into the trench.

  
A light began frantically blinking on the comm panel. Probably someone trying to ask Anakin why he was going the wrong way. He ignored the light and kept flying.  
“So…” Kiri said, breaking the awkward silence. “What is this flaw you’re exploiting?”

  
“An exhaust port,” Anakin said, amused contempt in his voice. “I suspect the project’s main architect is a traitor, because he’s far too smart to make such a mistake by accident. It leads directly to the main reactor, and if anything were to hit that, the entire thing would explode.”

  
“That really does seem like poor planning,” Kiri agreed.

  
“It’s protected by a ray shield,” Anakin continued. “But that won’t be a problem.”

  
“Why not?” Kiri asked.

  
“Because I can turn it off,” Anakin answered.

  
Kiri didn’t ask for further clarification, because he wasn’t likely to give it. They just watched as Anakin flew deftly through the trench, dodging around all sorts of protruding objects. Soon they approached a wall, and Kiri could see the port in front of it: a very small opening about two meters square. There was indeed a ray shield protecting the vent, effectively blocking most attempts to shoot it.

  
Anakin slowed the fighter and took one hand off the controls to reach toward the port. Kiri wondered if maybe he closed his eyes to concentrate. He turned his hand slightly, first one direction, then the other. Abruptly, the ray shield turned off.

  
Kiri’s jaw dropped. Had he just turned off the ray shield _with the Force?_ Kiri hadn’t even realized that was possible.

  
He inched the fighter closer to the exhaust port and took aim calmly. Apparently, he had, and now he was ready to take his shot.

  
“Wait,” Kiri said. Anakin paused, his thumb poised over the trigger button. “Can I do it?” Kiri asked.

  
“Are you as good of a shot as I am?” he asked.

  
“You aim, I’ll shoot,” Kiri said. They weren’t sure why they suddenly wanted to do this so badly. Maybe because the rebellion was still in its early stages, and Kiri didn’t feel like they were very useful there yet. Maybe because they just really wanted to metaphorically gesture rudely in the Emperor’s face.

  
“That won’t work,” Anakin said, and moved his hand off the gun control entirely. Eagerly, Kiri reached forward and took it. Anakin wrapped his much larger hand around theirs and let his mental shields drop further. “Feel it in the Force,” he instructed. He mentally tapped gently against Kiri’s shields. They relaxed their mind and brushed against Anakin’s. Together, they concentrated in the Force and took aim for the vent. Kiri sensed their moment and pressed the trigger.

  
They opened their eyes, not having realized they’d closed them, and watched their shot fly toward the vent. It was a direct hit. Kiri grinned.

  
Anakin gently removed Kiri’s hand from the gun control. He pulled the fighter into a tight vertical turn, pulling them quickly out of the trench. “We have to get clear quickly. Brace yourself,” Anakin said. He flew away from the Death Star at full throttle.

  
Once they were well clear of the Death Star’s surface, Anakin turned the fighter back toward the _Devastator_. Kiri caught a glimpse of the Death Star out the side of the fighter’s viewport. Anakin was concentrating entirely on getting back to the Star Destroyer, but Kiri watched eagerly.

  
The Death Star exploded in spectacular fashion, a giant fireball of energy rushing outward from the center of it. The shockwave following it knocked their tiny fighter off course. Anakin gripped the flight controls tighter and corrected their path. Kiri gazed at the massive debris field with great satisfaction.

  
Soon enough, they were back in the main hangar of the _Devastator_ , and Anakin was climbing out of the TIE. He reached down to help pull Kiri up and out. As soon as they were both on the floor of the hangar, Anakin commed the bridge and instructed the captain to jump to lightspeed immediately. They’d apparently discussed the destination beforehand, because the captain didn’t ask any questions, merely acknowledging the order.

  
Anakin didn’t say anything as the pair made their way out of the hangar. Kiri was feeling rather giddy. They’d just blown up the Empire’s giant secret weapon! The rebellion hadn’t even known it existed, and already they didn’t have to worry about it. They glanced sideways at Anakin as they walked next to him. It’d been odd, connecting with him in the Force. His mind was… a dark place, even after his sudden change of heart. Kiri had been able to feel his internal struggle and the mental war he was now waging with himself. He’d made his return to the light sound so easy, so simple, but clearly it wasn’t.

  
Kiri had also felt, very briefly, the utter panic he was still feeling over Kiri’s revelation of their relationship. He had no idea how to even interact with Kiri as a person, never mind how to be a parent. Kiri felt like maybe they should reassure him that, being twenty-one years old, they didn’t need a whole lot of parenting anymore.

  
It wasn’t until they were in the elevator that either of them spoke. It seemed that most of their conversations were to happen in an elevator.

  
“You did very well,” Anakin said stiffly. “It was mostly your doing, by the way. I helped, but it was your focus that allowed you to aim so well.”

“Thanks,” Kiri said softly. They hesitated, and then said carefully, “You’re a good teacher.”

  
“There wasn’t much to teach,” Anakin said. Not for the first time, Kiri wished they could hear his real voice, instead of the projected monotone.

  
Before they even realized they were speaking, Kiri asked, “What happened to you, nineteen years ago?” Horrified at their boldness, they clapped a hand to their mouth, but the words could not be taken back.

  
Anakin had shielded his mind again the minute they’d landed on the _Devastator_ , so Kiri couldn’t sense what he was feeling at all. They inched a step away from him, tension in every muscle. “I’m sorry, it’s really none of my-” they started quickly, but Anakin raised a hand to quiet them. Abruptly, they realized they’d forgotten to raise their own mental shields. They did so now, carefully locking their apprehension away behind them.

  
“It’s alright,” Anakin said finally. “I suppose you have a right to know.” He looked down at his gloved hands. Kiri had noticed, earlier in the TIE fighter, that his right hand was prosthetic. They hadn’t meant to ask about it, but now they’d get their answer.

  
“I lost my right hand years before, when I was still a padawan myself. That was a pain unlike any other I’d experienced until that point. Later, when I fell to the dark side, my master came to bring me back with him. He’d come with Padmé, to a planet in the outer rim called Mustafar.”

  
Anakin seemed to drift away on painful memories. Kiri, hearing him speak so calmly, had relaxed a little. “Is Padmé my mother?” they asked quietly.

  
“Yes,” Anakin said. “She was pregnant, days away from birth. She tried to convince me to leave. But I didn’t listen and I…”

  
“You said you thought I was dead alongside her.” Kiri didn’t want to say it. They didn’t want to hear him say it. “You didn’t…”

  
“She was alive when I left her,” Anakin said. “I don’t know how she died.”

  
Kiri decided they didn’t want to know either. “What did Master Kenobi do?” Anakin didn’t seem to notice that Kiri said Master Kenobi’s name before he’d told them what it was. He was too lost in his memories.

  
“He fought me,” Anakin said bitterly. He paused. “I suppose that’s not quite true. He tried to talk me down, and I attacked him. It was a long fight. He won, by cutting off my three remaining limbs and leaving me to burn in the lava. The Emperor found me. He built me this suit. Four mechanical limbs, a life support system that breathes for me, and a mask that sees and speaks for me.”

  
Kiri looked him up and down in horror. They’d never imagined something so gruesome. And they’d heard so much about Master Kenobi from Ahsoka—it was difficult to think of him doing such a thing.

  
“I suppose my master went back to Padmé, and took her to a medical facility somewhere. That must have been when you were born, and when she died,” Anakin said dully.  
It wasn’t, Kiri suddenly realized. When they’d been born, anyway. They had no way of knowing when or where Padmé had died, but Kiri knew that, by this point, they’d been nearly two years old. That was when the twins were born. Anakin had no idea they existed, not if he thought Kiri was only nineteen.

  
Should they tell him?

  
Before they could decide, the elevator opened to the corridor leading to their respective suites. Anakin walked with them as far as their door. An alarm in his suit began beeping shrilly. Anakin sighed.

  
“I must report to the Emperor. It seems he has noticed that his prized project exploded.” Anakin continued down the hallway to his quarters.

  
Kiri followed, concerned. “Will you be okay?”

  
Anakin looked down at them. “What do you mean?” he asked.

  
“The Emperor’s going to be angry that the Death Star is gone, won’t he? Would he take it out on you?”

  
“Only if I tell him I helped destroy it,” he said, too easily.

  
Kiri was not convinced. “He’s going to punish someone,” they insisted. “Everyone else that could take the blame is already dead. You don’t think he’ll twist this around to make it your fault?”

  
“There will certainly be consequences for my actions,” Anakin said. “I cannot be certain yet of the nature of those consequences.”

  
They’d reached Anakin’s door, and he was still dodging Kiri’s question.

  
“What are you even going to tell him?” Kiri asked worriedly. They hadn’t even thought about the Emperor when they’d been aiming to take the Death Star out. Or, well, they’d only been thinking of how much it would help the rebellion defeat him and his Empire. They hadn’t been thinking about what could happen to Anakin.

  
“I’ll tell him that some unfortunate stormtrooper dropped his blaster down the wrong shaft and caused the reactor to explode,” Anakin said, amusement back in his voice. “Stormtroopers are very clumsy, or haven’t you noticed?”

  
Kiri couldn’t even argue with that. They saw a stormtrooper trip over his own feet every time they left their suite. “I don’t think he’ll believe that, but it’s worth a try.” They turned away. “Good luck,” they said over their shoulder. They heard Anakin’s door slide open and closed again with a soft hiss. Kiri walked slowly back to their rooms, chewing their lower lip.

  
Upon entering their suite, Kiri saw the box of pastries where they’d left it hours ago. Their stomach rumbled, but Kiri had no appetite for sweet things. They pushed the box aside and let themself fall down onto the sofa, exhausted now that they were back on the ship. The adrenaline rush they’d gotten from blowing up the Death Star had worn off a while ago.

  
Kiri wondered if, how, and when they should tell Anakin that he had other children. They hadn’t mentioned it before because they hadn’t wanted him to scour the galaxy looking for them. But now that he was attempting to redeem himself, it’d be alright if he knew, wouldn’t it?

  
Kiri had met their younger brother a year ago, when they’d gone to Tatooine to look for more information about Anakin and their family. They’d learned so much there. Luke was living with their aunt and uncle. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen were very kind, and if Kiri had liked the planet any more they might have had a harder time leaving. It was difficult to leave Luke behind. His eyes had shined when Kiri told him about roaming the galaxy by themself.

  
He didn’t know anything about Anakin. Not that he used to be a Jedi, or that he was still alive. Kiri had been startled to hear this. They’d made up some poor excuse for why they’d grown up somewhere else, unsure of how they could tell him the truth without absolutely crushing him.

  
Kiri met Leia when they joined the rebellion with Ahsoka. She’d been adopted by the royal family of Alderaan, and while she knew she was adopted, she didn’t know she had siblings. Kiri had only talked to her once, but that had been enough to realize the truth. The Force had nearly screamed it at them. But Leia’s adopted father had been nearby, and he was staring at Kiri like he was seeing a ghost, so they’d said nothing of their relationship.

  
Kiri was the only one in the galaxy, aside from Ahsoka, that knew the full truth about the entire Skywalker family, and their head was ready to burst with the secret. The desperate need for someone else to know everything about them, and what had happened on their home planet, and who their real parents were, was what had driven them to seek out Anakin in the first place.

  
A soft knock on Kiri’s door a while later brought them out of their musing. They answered, revealing Anakin in the corridor. He’d come to inform Kiri that he’d been ordered back to Coruscant, to report to the Emperor in person. Kiri thanked him for letting them know and turned back to their room. Suddenly, that box of pastries was looking a lot more appealing.

  
*

  
The _Devastator_ stayed in orbit above the capitol planet while Anakin took his shuttle down to the surface. He’d warned Kiri to shield themself well, before they arrived, lest the Emperor sense their presence on the ship. Kiri had done as instructed, bid Anakin good luck in the hangar, and returned to their room with stormy thoughts. They’d been pacing the length of the suite for the past two hours.

  
A knock on their door jolted them. They leapt for the door, hoping it was Anakin. It wasn’t. An officer had come to offer Kiri a spot at the table in their mess hall. Apparently it was dinner time.

  
“No, thank you,” Kiri said distractedly. “I’ll eat in my quarters.”

  
But when the officer left, Kiri resumed their pacing around the room, neglecting the growling in their stomach. Anakin hadn’t said how long he might be gone. Maybe it was too soon to worry. Maybe he should have been back a while ago.

  
They stopped pacing and planted themself by the window. It faced the surface, thankfully, so maybe Kiri would be able to spot the shuttle coming back. They gazed at Coruscant in awe. They’d never been here before. Though they wouldn’t consider staying in orbit the same as being on Coruscant, it was amazing to see it from this distance. There were so many lights!

  
Kiri was so distracted by looking at the giant city below them that they almost missed the sight of the shuttle making its way back. They lost sight of it as it approached the hangar. They flew through their suite and down the corridor, heading for the main hangar.

  
They caught up with Anakin as he came out of the elevator on their level. He said nothing, marching down the hall silently. He seemed fine—that is, Kiri could see no signs of injury. They followed behind him as he strode toward his quarters. Outside his door, he seemed to notice their presence for the first time. He looked down at them. Briefly, he rested his hand on their shoulder. Then he went into his room and left them in the corridor.

  
Maybe he’d be ready to talk later. Kiri went back to their room and sat on the sofa, turning on the holonews again in an attempt to distract themself and avoid more pacing. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Coruscant disappear as the ship jumped to hyperspace.

  
Kiri waited a full hour before leaving their room again. They walked slowly down the corridor. A pair of passing officers nodded respectfully at Kiri. Outside Anakin’s rooms, two stormtroopers stood guard on either side of the door. They glanced at each other when Kiri stopped in front of the door.

  
“Is Lord Vader busy?” Kiri asked them.

  
“It’s not our business what Lord Vader does,” said one stormtrooper crossly.

  
“But he isn’t at the moment,” added the other trooper.

  
“Great,” Kiri said. “Can I see him?”

  
“That’s up to Lord Vader,” said the first trooper.

  
“Ask him, then,” Kiri said, crossing their arms. They could sense Anakin inside. He was already fully aware of their presence. He felt… weary, but not annoyed at Kiri for coming over.

  
Before either of the stormtroopers could respond, the door hissed open, and Anakin loomed in the doorway. His irritation at the guards bled into the air. The pair snapped to attention against the wall, not looking in his direction.

  
“Kiri is my honored guest,” Anakin said. “They are always welcome in my quarters.” He stepped to one side and gestured for Kiri to enter. They nodded politely to the guards as they entered. Their shoulder brushed against the panel on his chest that monitored his vitals, and Kiri remembered the horrible story he’d told them of how he’d gotten that suit. They shivered and hurried to put some space between themself and Anakin.

  
They looked around the room. Kiri had seen it briefly from the ventilation shaft, but they hadn’t paid much attention to the room itself then. They saw at the far end the huge black pod. Now that they knew a little more about Anakin, they took a guess at its purpose—it was very likely some sort of chamber where Anakin could safely remove his mask or suit. The wall across from them had a large transparisteel window, through which Kiri could see the blue warp of hyperspace. On the opposite end of the room from the medical pod, there was a table with several large, comfortable chairs placed around it. Past the table was a closed door. That was it; the room was large, but very bare. There wasn’t a bed that they could see. Where did Anakin sleep?

  
The door slid shut behind Kiri. Anakin sighed. He gestured for Kiri to sit at the table. They sat, perching tensely on the edge of the seat. Anakin pulled out a chair with the Force and sank into it. Actually, he kind of fell, with a creaking of mechanical joints. His breathing was suddenly much shallower, and labored.  
Kiri frowned. “Are you okay?” they asked.

  
“I’m fine,” he said. He tried to sit up straighter. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

  
“You don’t just look _tired_ ,” Kiri said flatly. “What did the Emperor do to you?”

  
“He expressed his displeasure at the destruction of his highly confidential project,” Anakin said. “There was no need to tell any stories; to his knowledge, I was across the galaxy at the time. I assured him that, had I been there, such a tragedy could never have occurred. He agreed.”

  
“Then why did he still punish you?” Kiri said. They crossed their arms and fixed Anakin with a stern look.

  
“Because I should have been there to prevent the incident.”

  
Kiri gaped at him. “But you couldn’t have known that it would happen!” They shook their head. “I mean, as far as the Emperor knows. If it really was an accident and you really were across the galaxy, there’s no way you could have predicted that.”

  
“That’s not quite true,” Anakin said. “The Force sometimes grants visions of the future. It is possible that I could have foreseen it, and done nothing.”

  
“So you were punished for not having an involuntary vision about the possible destruction of the Emperor’s super secret weapon,” Kiri said, unimpressed. “If I didn’t already want to take down the Emperor just for being the Emperor I’d want to kill him for hurting you over something so stupid,” they said.

  
Anakin tilted his head, really the only way he could express that he was giving Kiri an odd look. It took them a moment to interpret it.

  
“I do care about you, you know that, right?” they said slowly. “I’d be rather upset if anything happened to you.”

  
He didn’t move, and Kiri assumed his expression didn’t change. They raised an eyebrow. “It’s been a long time since anyone sincerely cared about you, hasn’t it?”

  
“Nineteen years,” Anakin said.

  
That reminded Kiri that they should probably tell him their actual age. But then he’d wonder what happened to the baby that Padmé had been pregnant with on Mustafar, and they didn’t think it was quite time to tell him about the twins. They resolved to tell him soon, and set the thought aside. “Well, you’ve got me now, like it or not. As your child I’m allowed to be concerned about you.”

  
“I suppose so,” Anakin said, seeming unconvinced. He stood slowly. “If you’ll excuse me, I need some time to rest,” he said.

  
“Of course.” Kiri jumped out of their chair and crossed to the door. They paused and watched Anakin limping across the room. “Rest well, Father,” they said softly. They weren’t sure if he heard it or not, but they ducked out the door before they could see his reaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't usually use things from Legends, but when I was looking up where the Death Star was built, I saw the Legends version of it first (I've got this really cool atlas that I enjoy even if it's not canon). And I like it a lot better than the canon version, so I decided to go ahead and use that. Besides, isn't it great that the planet's name is just 'despair' spelled weirdly?


	3. An Excess of Sand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin certainly isn't half-assing this change of heart, and Kiri is continually surprised by his actions.

Kiri had gotten quite used to spending time in the guest suite alone. Anakin seemed to prefer letting them seek him out than coming to Kiri himself. But after what happened on Coruscant, they didn’t want to bother him. He probably needed the rest.

  
So once again they passed the time with the holonet and novels on their datapad. They chatted with their assigned serving droid and made several trips between their room and the _Tenacity_. They’d managed to keep themself busy enough that they were startled, sometime the next afternoon, to look out their window and see regular space. They must have reached their new destination.

  
Kiri crossed to the window, wondering if they’d be able to see the planet from here. They looked out and groaned. Whirling around, they marched out of their room, down the hall, and stopped outside Anakin’s door with its accompanying guard.

  
“He’s on the bridge,” one of the stormtroopers informed them.

  
Kiri sighed and walked to the elevator. They hadn’t been on the bridge since Anakin had introduced him to the captain, and they still weren’t sure if they were allowed there. But they really needed to talk to him.

  
They tapped their foot impatiently while the elevator took them up to the bridge. The doors slid open and Kiri strode toward Anakin. He was standing at the far end of the room, looking out the giant viewport.

  
“Lord Vader,” Kiri said, their voice clipped. Usually they struggled to say his title without laughing. They’d agreed to call him that in public, since no one could hear them call him Anakin, or worse yet, Father, but Kiri found the name ridiculous. Now, they were annoyed enough to keep the laughter out of their voice.

  
Anakin turned around slowly. He tilted his head slightly in a silent question.

  
“Would you mind telling me why the hell we’ve come to Tatooine?” Kiri demanded.

Anakin seemed taken aback by their vehemence. “Is there a reason we shouldn’t have come?” he asked.

  
Kiri was well aware of the many other people on the bridge. They were all studiously ignoring Anakin and his guest, but it wouldn’t do to discuss sensitive matters here. Yes, there was a reason they shouldn’t have come, and he was probably eating dinner with his aunt and uncle about now.

  
“I suppose not,” Kiri said, frustrated that they couldn’t really tell him the truth. “I just don’t like deserts, that’s all.”

  
“You’ve been here before?” Anakin asked. He didn’t seem to be concerned about the many listening ears.

  
“Once,” Kiri said shortly.

  
Anakin certainly didn’t need to feel their emotions through the Force to pick up on Kiri’s irritation, but they let him feel it anyway. It was only a moment before he said, “Accompany me to my quarters.”

  
Kiri followed him, easily keeping up with his stride for once. Usually he walked too fast for Kiri’s much shorter stride, but now he seemed to be slowing his pace for them. They both remained silent until they were seated at the table in his room.

  
“I’m not fond of Tatooine myself,” Anakin said. “It holds very unpleasant memories for me. I didn’t realize you held such disdain for it either.”

  
That wasn’t how Kiri would phrase it, exactly. They didn’t _mind_ Tatooine, they just didn’t like the gritty sand and the relentless suns. And Anakin being here, now, when his son was just below, was making Kiri very nervous. They’d wanted time to explain things to Anakin before he met Luke. “I came to Tatooine when I was looking for information about you,” Kiri said. “It was an unpleasant trip, overall. I’d never been to a desert like Tatooine before, and I was unprepared for what it was like. I admit I’m reluctant to go back.”

  
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Anakin asked. An odd anxiety dribbled out through his shields.

  
“I learned quite a lot about you, actually,” Kiri said, reflecting. Ahsoka had been able to tell them much about his time as her master, and what he was like during the Clone Wars, but they’d learned of his history before the Jedi Order from Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. “I was sorry to hear that my grandmother died.”

  
A burning flash of anger burst from Anakin for an instant before he clamped down his mental shields more tightly than Kiri had ever felt them. Apparently, mentioning his mother was a sore topic. “I met your step brother, too,” Kiri said, unsure if this was a safer direction to move the conversation in. “I like Aunt Beru. Uncle Owen’s a little gruff.”

  
“I don’t really know them myself,” Anakin said. His voice held even less inflection than usual. “I met them once for a few days, when my mother died.”

  
Kiri desperately wanted to know more about how Shmi died. Their aunt and uncle had told them she’d been taken by Tusken raiders, and that she’d died as their captive, but that was all. Anakin obviously knew more than that. But it was just as obvious that the memory was a very painful one for him, even more so than the story of Mustafar, so Kiri didn’t dare ask. They tried to keep their curiosity from Anakin.

  
“I vowed I’d never return to Tatooine after she died,” Anakin continued. “But I know that the next thing I must do…” he sighed, a rough sound through his mask. “If I am to truly come back to the light, and truly make amends to the galaxy, I must first beg forgiveness of my master.” He looked down at his hands, resting on his legs. “His name is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

  
Kiri nodded. “Ahsoka told me lots of stories about the Clone Wars,” they said. “Most of those stories involved Master Kenobi.”

  
Kiri felt something like a mental grimace from Anakin. “Of course she did. I should have expected that. Well, he went into hiding after the Jedi Order fell, and no one has been able to find him since,” Anakin said.

  
Kiri raised an eyebrow. “Then how do you know he’s here?”

  
“Obi-Wan knows that Tatooine is the one planet in the galaxy I would never go to search for him. Of course he’s here,” Anakin said, like it should have been obvious.

  
“He’s not going to like it when you show up on his doorstep,” Kiri said. They wondered why they hadn’t met Obi-Wan when they been here before. They hadn’t noticed it at the time, but Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru hadn’t said anything about him. Why not?

  
“I won’t be going to the surface,” Anakin said. “You don’t want to know what it’s like getting sand in the gears of a prosthetic.”

  
Kiri sighed. They could see where this was going. “You want me to take the _Tenacity_ to the surface and find Obi-Wan for you.” They frowned. “Do you want me to bring him back here? That seems a little risky.”

  
“I’m asking you to go,” Anakin said, clearly trying to be kind about it. “I won’t make you if you really don’t want to. As for it being risky, all of the men on this ship are loyal to me before anyone else, even the Emperor. I’m not concerned.”

  
“Alright,” Kiri said, standing. “I’ll go. But what if he doesn’t want to come?”

  
“I assure you, if you tell him Anakin is asking him to, he will come.”

  
Anakin sure had a lot of faith in Obi-Wan, even after everything that had happened between them. Kiri nodded and headed for the door. If they must go to that Force-damned desert again, they’d rather go sooner than later.

  
*

  
Kiri landed the _Tenacity_ by the Lars farm. Luke had seen them approaching, and was running for the ship as soon as they’d turned the engines off. They met him at the bottom of the ramp.

  
“Kiri!” he said, seizing them in a tight hug. “I didn’t expect to see you back so soon. It’s only been a year.”

  
Kiri patted his back and gently extracted themself from his embrace. “I’m afraid it’s going to be a short visit this time. I’m here for a purpose.”

  
“You can at least come and say hi to Aunt Beru and Uncle, can’t you?” Luke asked.

  
Kiri nodded. “Actually, I have a question for them.” If Master Kenobi really was on Tatooine, Kiri thought that he had to have told the Larses, even if he’d avoided them since. They had to know something.

  
Uncle Owen wasn’t in the house when Luke pulled Kiri into the kitchen. It was early afternoon, and they’d had their midday meal only a few hours ago. Uncle Owen was probably out working on vaporators. But Aunt Beru was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. She looked up when they entered, and smiled widely when she saw Kiri.

  
“What a pleasant surprise,” she said, gently hugging Kiri.

  
Kiri returned the hug and sat next to her at the table. Luke sat across from them. “Aunt Beru,” Kiri started. “I came back looking for someone, and I was hoping you could help me. His name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’m told he’s somewhere on Tatooine.”

  
An odd look crossed Aunt Beru’s face. “You're lucky your uncle’s out of the house,” she said. “Don’t let him hear you speak that name. He doesn’t like Kenobi much.”

  
Kiri sat forward eagerly. “So you do know him, then. Do you know where he is?”

  
Aunt Beru sighed. “He lives out past the Dune Sea. You’d better take the speeder, and leave your ship here.”

  
Luke looked back and forth between them. “Can I go with them, Aunt Beru?” he asked. “I’ve already done all my afternoon chores.”

  
“Yes, I suppose you can,” she said with another sigh. “Just be back before dinnertime, and don’t tell your uncle where you’ve gone.”

  
Luke jumped up from the table and grabbed Kiri’s arm, pulling them toward the garage. “Thanks, Aunt Beru! We’ll be back for dinner!”

  
Kiri shook their head in amusement at his enthusiasm. They’d be glad for his company, and his knowledge of the desert. Aunt Beru hadn’t been very specific, and they weren’t sure they could navigate the Dune Sea without Luke.

  
“Why are you looking for this Kenobi way out here anyway?” Luke asked as they drove through the desert in the family’s landspeeder.

  
The real answer to that question involved revealing all the lies Luke had been told about who Anakin was. But there wasn’t anything else they could tell him. Kiri sighed. “Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen didn’t really tell you much about our father, did they?” they asked.

  
“No, not much.”

  
“Well, Obi-Wan, he’s…” Kiri paused, thinking about the nineteen years of estrangement between Anakin and his former master. “He’s an old friend of our father’s,” they eventually settled on. “They were very close, years ago.”

  
“That doesn’t really explain why you’re looking for him,” Luke pointed out. “Are you still researching our family? I thought you’d already found everything there was to find.”

  
There was so much more than what Kiri had told him. So much more that Kiri didn’t know, and likely never would, thanks to the Empire. But Kiri supposed they had found most of what was still available to them. “I’m not still researching,” they said. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen had told Luke that Anakin was dead. Maybe because that’s what Obi-Wan had told them, and they didn’t know the truth either. They certainly had no idea he’d joined the Empire. “Luke, I know that you were told Anakin is dead,” Kiri said awkwardly. “If it helps, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen really think that he is. But that’s one of the things I found out when I was researching.”

  
Luke beat them to the punch. “Our father is alive?” he said excitedly.

  
Kiri nodded. “Yes, and that’s why I’m here. He sent me to find Obi-Wan for him.”

  
“Why didn’t he come himself?” Luke said. He gave Kiri the impression that his real question was ‘why hasn’t he ever come to see me.’

  
“He said he doesn’t like sand,” Kiri said with a shrug. There were other reasons, too, but Kiri knew Anakin well enough by now that they could tell it all really boiled down to the sand.

  
Luke frowned. “I thought he grew up here. Shouldn’t he be used to it?” Luke certainly didn’t seem to mind the way the sand flew in their faces as they drove, or how it got into every crevice of their clothing.

  
“It’s been a long time since he’s been back here,” Kiri dodged. Trust Luke to accidentally ask questions whose answers were very complicated.

  
“So, what do we do once we find Obi-Wan?” Luke asked.

  
Kiri shrugged. “Ask him to come back with us? Anakin wanted me to bring him to his ship.”

  
“His ship…” Luke said slowly. “He’s in orbit above Tatooine?”

  
Kiri silently cursed Luke’s intelligence. They could evade the question easily enough, they supposed, since being in orbit above Tatooine didn’t necessarily mean anything. But Kiri could see the dots Luke was connecting. They’d been able to see the _Devastator_ from the farm, faint though it had been in the bright blue sky.

  
“Yes,” Kiri said softly.

  
“I guess that explains why I’ve never met him,” Luke said sourly, and abruptly dropped the subject.

  
He remained silent for the rest of the drive. They were headed for the rocky ridge Kiri had been eyeing hopefully for some time. Luke slowed the speeder as he steered into a wide valley. Kiri was grateful to get off the open sand. Luke began looking around.

  
“I think he lives somewhere around here,” he said. “I’m not sure exactly where, but I think we’re close.”

  
Kiri closed their eyes and reached out carefully with their mind. They hadn’t done this very much, and certainly not over such a big space, but they thought they might be able to sense Ben’s presence. There was something alive up ahead. It was warm and bright, and Force-sensitive. Whoever it was, they weren’t far.

  
“Up ahead, around a few bends,” Kiri said, opening their eyes.

  
Luke raised an eyebrow at them. “How’d you know that?”

  
“Intuition,” Kiri answered cryptically. They’d leave explaining what the Force was to Obi-Wan. They weren’t sure they were qualified.

  
“Okay then,” Luke said. He drove forward, dodging around scattered boulders. Kiri kept their senses stretched out, not wanting to lose that presence. They’d rounded a couple of bends when the being became aware of them. It pulled its mind away from Kiri’s, but they sensed its exact location just before it did.

  
“There,” they pointed, at a ledge above their head to the right. They jumped out of the speeder before Luke could bring it to a full stop.

  
A figure wearing a long brown cloak emerged from behind a rock, looking down at them. It was an older human man, his gray beard just visible from under his hood. He looked from Kiri to Luke, studying them. Then he turned and followed a narrow path down to the valley floor, stopping a good distance away.

  
“Are you Obi-Wan Kenobi?” Kiri asked before the man could say anything.

  
“That depends on who’s asking,” he responded slyly. His gaze flicked over to Luke. Clearly he recognized him. He looked back at Kiri, staring. Kiri wondered what he saw in their face that gave him that expression.

  
“My name is Kiri Skywalker,” they said softly. They gestured to Luke. “This is my brother, Luke. We’ve come on behalf of our father.”

  
Master Kenobi’s face went carefully blank, like he was trying not to show any emotion. “It’s been twenty years since I used that name, but yes, I am he.” He crossed his arms. “You’d better come inside.”

  
Luke and Kiri followed him up the path to the ledge, where they saw the door that had been hidden by the rock from below. Master Kenobi opened the door and waved them inside, following after and closing the door securely.

  
Inside, Master Kenobi had made himself a cozy home. It was just three small rooms; a kitchen with a table, a bedroom and meditation space, and a refresher. There was only one chair at the table, but Master Kenobi moved it into the bedroom. He lowered his hood and gestured for Luke and Kiri to sit on the bed while he went about making tea.

  
Luke sat, looking around curiously, but Kiri stayed on their feet, watching Master Kenobi. If he noticed them watching him, he said nothing. He was in his late fifties, Kiri thought, or perhaps in his early sixties. His hair was mostly gray, though there was still some color running through it, a reddish-brown. He moved slowly about the kitchen, though that was probably because it was a small space, not because he couldn’t move quickly. Kiri would bet a lot of money that he could win easily in a physical contest against them.

  
“How did you know to look for me here, Kiri Skywalker?” Master Kenobi asked conversationally. “For that matter, how is it you know me by a name I no longer use?”

  
“I know who you are because of Ahsoka Tano,” Kiri said. “She’s my master.”

  
Master Kenobi seemed to cheer up at that. “It’s good to hear that she’s alive and well, and with a padawan herself,” he said. “I didn’t know what had become of her once the Empire began.”

  
Kiri smiled, thinking of her. “Yes, she’s doing quite well. She has many stories about you. It’s very nice to finally meet you in person, Master Kenobi.” They bowed politely, the Jedi way Ahsoka had showed them.

  
Master Kenobi shook his head at them. “I’m no master anymore,” he said. “There’s no need for formality. You can call me Ben, or Obi-Wan if you prefer.”

  
Kiri shrugged. “Had to say it at least once.” They crossed the room and joined Luke on the bed.

  
“You used to be called Master Kenobi?” Luke asked.

  
“A long time ago, when I was a Jedi like your father,” Obi-Wan said. “All Jedi who take an apprentice, a padawan, use the title. But I don’t, not anymore. I’m no one’s master.” He walked over to them, carrying a small tray with three teacups on it, and settled into the chair. He offered a teacup to each of them.

  
“Our father was a Jedi Knight?” Luke asked incredulously. He turned his starstruck gaze from Obi-Wan to Kiri. “Why didn’t you tell me, Kiri?”

  
Kiri winced. “Sorry,” they said. “After hearing Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen’s story about him, I wasn’t sure how to tell you the truth.”

  
“Yes, he was a Jedi, once,” Obi-Wan said in a guarded tone. His face lightened as he addressed Kiri. “It’s nice to meet you as well, but I confess, I’m extremely puzzled. I wasn’t aware that he had any other children.”

  
“He didn’t know he had any at all, until I met him,” Kiri said. “I assume our mother must have kept me a secret from him, though how, I have no idea. I’m two years older than Luke, and nobody knew who my real parents were until recently.”

  
“So, you’ve met your father,” Obi-Wan said carefully. “You mentioned that you came here on his behalf, which is, I assume, how you found me.”

  
Kiri took a deep breath. “Yes. He said that you must be here on Tatooine because it was the one planet in the galaxy he’d never come looking for you.”

  
“That’s true enough,” Obi-Wan said. “I also settled here to watch over your brother, and keep him safe from the Empire.” There was disapproval in his tone.

  
Kiri spoke quickly to allay any suspicions he had. “I wouldn’t have come if Anakin hadn’t asked me to. He still doesn’t know about Luke, I promise.”

  
Obi-Wan’s frown didn’t go away. “He may not know about Luke, but he knows about you. You’re Force-sensitive, I presume.”

  
Kiri nodded. “He’s keeping me a secret,” they said. “He didn’t tell the Emperor about me. He’s protecting me.”

  
“Yes, I imagine he would. He’s rather possessive of the people he considers his,” Obi-Wan said.

  
“Hang on a moment,” Luke said. He’d remained quiet through the exchange, sipping his tea and watching the two of them. But he seemed rather annoyed now. “There’s something going on here that neither of you are telling me.” He looked at Kiri. “I know our aunt and uncle weren’t very truthful about Father, and while it upsets me, I’ve accepted it. And I’ve accepted that it wasn’t your duty to correct that false information. But I’m asking you now, please stop being so secretive. I want to know the truth.”

  
Kiri sighed. “I’m so sorry, Luke. I didn’t want to lie to you.”

  
He put a hand on their shoulder. “Then tell me what you know. Why did Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen tell me he was dead?”

  
“Because the man that Anakin was might as well be dead.” Obi-Wan rubbed a hand over his face. “Anakin became corrupted and consumed by evil, so completely that I no longer recognize my best friend, my brother. He is someone different now.”

  
“But he’s alive,” Luke said. “What happened? Why does everyone think he died?”

  
“He shed his old name when he joined the Empire,” Obi-Wan said. “He calls himself Darth Vader now.”

  
Kiri didn’t think Luke had heard of Vader until now. He didn’t have much of a reaction to the name. “What was he like, before?” he asked.

  
“He was more than just my student.” Obi-Wan smiled now, thinking about a younger Anakin. “He was my closest companion. There was no one I’d rather have had by my side in a fight. He was the best star pilot in the galaxy, and few could rival him as a duelist.”

  
Luke absorbed this information like it was life-sustaining. He smiled for a moment, probably imagining all sorts of epic feats. But then his smile faded and his brow furrowed. “Why did he turn?”

  
Kiri shook their head. “He didn’t tell me that. He told me about what happened after he fell, but not why it happened in the first place. From the way he talked about our mother, Padmé, I suppose it had something to do with her death.”

  
“I never knew either,” Obi-Wan said, a touch of bitterness in his voice. “One day he was fine, if a little stressed, and the next… he’d joined the Emperor, without ever telling me why.”

  
There was a long moment of silence while they all drank their tea. Obi-Wan seemed to be reminiscing, and Luke was processing everything he’d been told.

  
Kiri finished their tea and set the cup down. “It was Anakin that asked me to come,” they told Obi-Wan. “Not Darth Vader.”

  
Obi-Wan’s eyebrows rose, but he said nothing.

  
“He wants to talk to you,” Kiri added softly. “He said he wanted to ask your forgiveness.”

  
“And yet, he wouldn’t come to me himself,” Obi-Wan said. “Why is that, I wonder?”

  
“Too much sand,” Kiri said immediately. “But he’s here, in orbit.”

  
“Why would I agree to what is certainly a trap?” Obi-Wan asked. “Forgive me, Kiri, but I only just met you, and you have no way of proving that you are who you say you are, or that Vader is sincere.”

  
“I’m pretty sure I’m not a good enough liar to fool someone like you,” Kiri said dryly, “but you’re welcome to check for yourself.” They gestured at their head and relaxed their mental shields.

  
Hesitantly, Obi-Wan reached out mentally, and brushed against Kiri’s mind. Telepathy was a very rare ability even among Force-users, so it wasn’t that he could suddenly read Kiri’s mind, but with their defenses fully lowered he’d be able to sense their intentions and emotions. Kiri held their breath as he made up his mind.

  
“Alright,” he said at last. “You’re telling the truth, at least. That could just mean that you’re fully convinced you’re Anakin’s child, but I feel that’s unlikely. And you are telling the truth about Anakin.”

  
“Please come with me,” Kiri said. “I don’t know what Anakin would do if I returned alone.”

  
“Of course I’ll come,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t know that I would be able to refuse him, in all honesty.” He gathered their teacups and stood. “Allow me a few minutes to prepare, and then we can leave. Patience is not one of Anakin’s strong suits.”

  
Luke and Kiri watched as Obi-Wan moved about his small home. He pulled out a small bag and packed a day’s worth of food into it, as well as an extra cloak and a small bundle Kiri couldn’t identify. When he was ready, he followed the siblings back out into the heat.

  
Luke hopped into the driver’s seat of the speeder. Kiri sat in the back, and Obi-Wan climbed into the seat next to Luke, setting his pack on his lap. Luke turned the speeder around and zipped out of the valley at full throttle. They were whipping up a fine storm of sand in their wake. Kiri scowled at the amount of grit that found its way into their face.

  
Of course, that amount only increased when they left the valley and zoomed over the open dunes. Kiri would have to shake out their clothes before getting on their ship. By the time they got back to the farm, there was a fine coating in their hair. Luke laughed at Kiri as they slid off the speeder and shook their head vigorously, raining sand onto the ground.

  
“That’s entirely pointless,” he said with a smirk, heading for the ramp to the house. “You should come say goodbye to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.”

  
Kiri made to follow Luke, glancing at Obi-Wan. He hadn’t gotten out of the speeder yet.

  
“I think I should stay here,” he said.

  
Kiri shrugged. “Okay.” They gestured to their ship. “You can wait in there if you want.”

  
Obi-Wan nodded and climbed out of the speeder, settling the strap of his pack around his shoulder. Kiri went down the ramp to the courtyard.

  
Even though there was still some time before dinner, Uncle Owen had returned while they were gone. He had a deep scowl on his face when Kiri entered the kitchen, and they guessed that Aunt Beru and Luke hadn’t managed to keep where they’d gone from him.

  
Kiri hugged their aunt and uncle goodbye quickly, and was in the doorway out to the courtyard when Luke spoke again.

  
“I want to go with you,” he said.

  
Kiri turned around. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” they said.

  
“Neither do I!” Uncle Owen agreed emphatically.

  
Kiri ignored him. “He doesn’t know about you, Luke. It’d just complicate things further if you came.”

  
Luke crossed his arms and set his jaw. “He didn’t know about you, either, not until you showed up unexpectedly on his ship. Now that I know he’s alive I want to meet him.”

  
Kiri was sure that Luke meant to look determined, unmovable, but all Kiri saw was big blue puppy-dog eyes. Their will crumbled. “Okay, fine, you can come.”

  
Luke had about one second to be ecstatic. Then Uncle Owen spoke.

  
“Now, wait just one moment,” he said. “You can’t just go running off to space, Luke. You’re needed here.”

  
Luke turned his pleading eyes to his uncle. “It’ll only be for one day,” he said. “I’m not leaving forever.”

  
“I’ll keep him safe, Uncle,” Kiri chimed in. “It’s my job as his older sibling.”

  
Uncle Owen sighed. “I knew someday Kenobi would go dragging him off on some hare-brained adventure. Fine. You can go, but come back as soon as you can.”

  
They left quickly. Once aboveground, Luke let out a loud whoop. “I can’t believe I’m going to meet our father!”

  
“It might not be what you expect,” Kiri said. They didn’t want to dim his enthusiasm, but they really didn’t think that dropping another surprise child into Anakin’s life would go well.

  
Kiri wasted no time in getting their ship off the surface. There would be sand in the landing gear for the next month, most likely. They were eager to be away from the heat and back to the nice chill of space.

  
Obi-Wan and Luke chatted idly while Kiri flew back to the _Devastator_. Luke’s eyes were wide as they drew closer and closer. He’d been enthusiastic about the _Tenacity_ , as he likely would about any ship capable of interplanetary travel. But the _Devastator_ was a different matter entirely.

  
Kiri set the _Tenacity_ down in its usual spot in the main hangar. “Just… follow my lead, okay?” Kiri said to both Obi-Wan and Luke. They left the ship, trying not to let their nervousness show. Obi-Wan and Luke followed obediently behind them. Luke was looking around eagerly, openly staring at every stormtrooper they passed. Obi-Wan was more stoic, taking in his surroundings calmly, though Kiri felt his tension at being on an Imperial ship.

  
Once they were in the elevator, Kiri relaxed a little. They’d gotten used to being on Anakin’s ship over the last week, but it was strange and new again with Obi-Wan and Luke there. “Okay,” they said. “Anakin’s probably waiting for us in his quarters. He definitely knows we’re here. When we get there, let me do the talking at first, okay?” They directed this mostly at Luke. “Don’t say anything to him until Obi-Wan or I can explain who you are.”

  
Luke nodded rapidly. “Got it,” he said. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  
Kiri led the way down the corridor to Anakin’s quarters. Kiri knew the moment Obi-Wan sensed Anakin because he became very stiff and quiet. They took a deep breath and knocked on the door with a confidence they didn’t really feel. Immediately, they felt a jolt of alarm from Anakin inside.

  
The door slid open quickly, revealing Anakin just inside. Obi-Wan inhaled sharply. Luke gasped out loud. Kiri belatedly realized that neither of them had had any idea what he looked like until now.

  
“Hi, Anakin,” Kiri said. “We’re back. I brought Obi-Wan with me.”

  
“Yes,” Anakin agreed. He was focused so completely on Obi-Wan that Kiri didn’t think he even noticed Luke at all. He stepped back from the doorway to let them all in. “Please, come in.”

  
The minute the door was closed behind them, Anakin threw himself to the floor in a deep bow, his cloak puddling behind him.

  
“Master Kenobi,” he said. “You- you actually came.”


	4. Emotional Whiplash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin and Obi-Wan have a really awkward reunion while Kiri and Luke watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually really hard to write, but I'm super satisfied with the result. I think it's my new favorite chapter. Enjoy!

“Master Kenobi,” he said. “You- you actually came.”

  
Kiri stepped off to one side, gently pulling Luke with them. He didn’t resist, allowing himself to be led away. Luke was gazing at Anakin with fascination, taking in his armor, his cloak, and the loud, raspy breathing. The siblings watched the broken master-apprentice pair curiously. It was as if nothing existed in the galaxy except the two of them. They each occupied the other’s full attention.

  
Obi-Wan stared at Anakin on the floor before him like he was absorbing the reality of the moment. “Yes,” he said softly. He extended his hand toward Anakin, hesitated a moment with it hovering in the air over Anakin’s shoulder, and silently pulled it back to his side. “I always will.”

  
Anakin seemed to struggle for words. “Master,” he said again, and stopped. He was looking at the floor like he might find a script for his predicament there. Kiri felt a stab of sympathy for him. What could a person even say in a situation like this? But after a long moment of strained silence, he seemed to find his voice. He spoke to Obi-Wan’s feet.

  
“I committed unspeakable acts in service of your enemy. I betrayed you and deeply hurt the people I loved most again and again. I know nothing I could ever say or do could absolve me of my crimes. It’s more than I deserve to speak to you now, and I am eternally grateful that you came anyway. But I—I needed you to know—I asked you here to—Master, I’m _so sorry_. For Mustafar. For Padmé. For everything else. Please, I beg of you, though I am undeserving, grant me your forgiveness.”

  
“Oh, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said helplessly. He stepped forward and put his hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “You needn’t beg. I’ve spent the last nineteen years hoping you would come to me.” He knelt and took one of Anakin’s hands, pulling them both smoothly back to standing. Anakin turned his head, refusing to look his former master in the eye.

  
“Padawan,” Obi-Wan said gently. “I knew even all those years ago that I could never turn my back on you if you asked me to stay. I accept your apology. I forgive you.”

  
Anakin met his gaze. “Obi-Wan,” he said, surely whispering if only his mask would let him. “Help me.”

  
Kiri wondered if Anakin could still cry. If he could, he was crying heavily now. They could hear it in his voice and feel it in the raw edges of his mind. He leaned forward, as if to rest his head on Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Then he stopped suddenly, as if he only just remembered that he was wearing a helmet, and Obi-Wan’s robes could not absorb his tears.

  
Obi-Wan, however, had no such barriers. He let his tears flow freely down his face. He closed his eyes and gently let Anakin’s hand go, instead holding both of his shoulders. He, too, leaned his head forward. He still only touched Anakin by his hands; their heads were inches apart. “I’m here, my friend,” he whispered.

  
Kiri had meant to act as if they weren’t even in the room, to give Anakin and Obi-Wan a little privacy, but they were too moved by the scene before them. They came to his side and put their hand on his arm, leaning their head against his shoulder. “We’re all here, Father,” they said quietly.

  
Anakin startled, looking down at them. Kiri remembered belatedly that he hadn’t heard them the first time they’d called him Father in earnest. “Um, I mean Anakin,” they corrected. “I guess it’s still too soon to call you anything else.”

  
Obi-Wan’s mouth twitched. He let go of Anakin’s shoulders and stepped back. “Are you sure you really need me?” he asked. “It seems you’ve got all you need in Kiri here. They’re really quite bright.”

  
“Obi-Wan,” Anakin said. “I will always need you by my side.”

  
“You don’t really expect him to start living on an Imperial Star Destroyer, do you?” Luke asked.

  
Kiri shot him a glare. Hadn’t they told him to keep his mouth shut?

  
“Um. Who are you?” Anakin asked. He’d only just now noticed Luke was even in the room.

  
Luke took two steps forward to stand next to Kiri, which was two steps too close to Anakin, if the way he tensed was any indication. “Can’t you see the family resemblance?” he quipped, leaning his arm on Kiri’s shoulder.

  
Obi-Wan sighed and rested his face in his hand. “There surely must have been a better way to break the news to him,” he said.

  
“Luke,” Kiri said. “Shut up. Besides, we really don’t look that much like each other.”

  
It was true—Luke had sandy blond hair and clear blue eyes, and he was of average height for an adult human man. Kiri, on the other hand, had reached their adult height at five feet seven inches, their hair ran a lot closer to the brown end of the spectrum, and their eyes were a grayish brown. The shapes of their faces were similar, and they had nearly identical noses, but not many people would instantly assume they were siblings. Kiri looked a lot more like Leia than they did Luke.

  
But the comment had been enough to start the gears turning in Anakin’s mind. He gently disengaged from Kiri’s grip and took a step back, looking back and forth between the two siblings. Kiri bit back a sigh. This isn’t how they had wanted to tell him.

  
Luke, undeterred, stuck out his hand for Anakin to shake. “I’m Luke. It’s great to finally meet you.”

  
Anakin looked down at Luke’s hand for several heartbeats. Then he turned toward Obi-Wan and made a little gesture with his hands, clearly floundering for an explanation.  
“Luke,” Obi-Wan admonished. “There are about a hundred different ways to introduce you, and all of them would have been better than that.”

  
Luke dropped his hand. “I know, I know, I said I’d keep my mouth shut,” he said. “But he did ask!”

  
Anakin threw up his hands. “Will _one of you_ please tell me what is going on here?”

  
Kiri slapped their hand over Luke’s mouth. “I meant to tell you before I brought him, I promise. He’s um, my brother. Your son.”

  
For the first time, Kiri didn’t need to imagine the expression on Anakin’s face. This time, the mask was more than sufficient. The blank eyes bore into Kiri’s. The steady sound of Anakin’s breathing was the only sign of life, as he had frozen in shock and was staring at Kiri in disbelief.

  
“I’m older than him,” Kiri said quickly. “I was actually born two years before the whole—” they waved a hand in Anakin’s direction, indicating his entire being. “Luke’s the one that was born that day. At least I’m assuming, I mean I wasn’t there so I really don’t know for sure, I’m just making guesses based on the parts of the story I’ve been told—”

  
“Kiri,” Anakin said at last, cutting off their senseless rambling. “Is this all of my children, or are any more of you going to drop in on me from nowhere?”

  
“Well, there’s one more,” Kiri said without thinking. They caught the look on Obi-Wan’s face and slapped their other hand across their own mouth. “Never mind. Don’t listen to anything I just said,” they said through their fingers.

  
Anakin stumbled backward until he bumped into the table. He groped around for a chair, pulled it from the table, and fell into it without looking. “A week ago, I had no children, and my wife was dead. Now I have three children, one of which was somehow hidden from me entirely for more than two years, and the other two of which are twins who apparently lived when I thought they’d died. Next you’ll tell me Padmé survived and went back to live on Naboo.”

  
Obi-Wan shot Luke and Kiri a look that was thoroughly unimpressed. He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for himself, settling into it with a sigh. “Unfortunately, Padmé is the one person I know will not be showing up unexpectedly,” he said. “This is not how I would have had you find out, Anakin.”

  
“No,” Anakin shot back. “ _You_ wouldn’t have had me find out at all, since it seems you’ve been keeping Luke away from me on Tatooine all these years. And how long has everyone but me known about Kiri? And this other child I’ve apparently got, where have they been for the last _two decades_?”

  
“Hey, give him a break,” Kiri said, waving their hands in a placating gesture to settle him down. “Until last week you were also the Emperor’s right hand, the nightmare of the galaxy, and _definitely_ someone who should not be raising children. Really, what would have happened nineteen years ago if you knew about any of us then?”

  
Anakin glared at them. “Maybe if anyone had told me about _you_ then none of that would have happened, and I could have _learned_ how to raise children.”

  
“Anakin, Padmé hid Kiri’s existence from all of us,” Obi-Wan said patiently. “I was surprised as you were when they turned up on my doorstep. Only Padmé knew her reasons for not telling you.”

  
And they would all be left to wonder for the rest of their lives what those were. Kiri had speculated many times about why their mother had given them up to be raised by somebody else—especially by such horrible people like Kiri’s adopted parents. They’d eventually decided she couldn’t have known who Kiri had gone to, because she couldn’t possibly have looked at the people who’d raised Kiri and actually thought they’d make good parents. There were many possible reasons for Padmé’s decision, really. She would have been pregnant during the first year of the Clone Wars, and the first year of her marriage to Anakin. It wasn’t hard to imagine how that might have made her feel.

  
Anakin sighed. “Fine. You all had very good reasons for not telling me.”

  
“Hey, _I_ told you almost as soon as I knew,” Kiri said.

  
“You also asked me to kill you,” Anakin said. “That isn’t a great first father-child interaction.”

  
“I’ve got Kiri beat for telling you soonest, though,” Luke said. “I only found out earlier today.”

  
“It isn’t a competition,” Obi-Wan said. “Really, Anakin, only you could be the father of children like them.” He gave the distinct impression that he was regretting letting Kiri into his house earlier.

“They’ve both been raised by other people,” he retorted. “I had nothing to do with it.”

  
“It’s in your DNA,” Obi-Wan muttered. All three Skywalkers ignored him.

  
“So,” Anakin said, sounding happier. “There’s another one of you, then? Who are they? What’s their name? What are they like?”

  
“Her name’s Leia,” Kiri said, relieved that the conversation was moving forward. “I’ve only met her once, but I really like her.”

  
“Wait, Leia? As in, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan?” Anakin asked slowly. “Daughter of Bail Organa and _Imperial Senator of Alderaan_?”

  
It took Kiri a moment to understand. When they did, they smacked their face into their palm. Of course he’d already met her, on multiple occasions. Of course.

  
Anakin looked back at Obi-Wan, jabbing an accusing finger in his direction. “Start explaining, _right now_.”

  
Obi-Wan had his face buried in both of his hands, his elbows on the table and his shoulders slumped in defeat. He didn’t lift his head from his hands, leaving his words rather muffled: “The Organas wanted to adopt a baby girl. They promised to protect her and keep her safe. And Tatooine was a good place for Luke. He was with family.”

  
“I think letting my daughter serve in the Imperial Senate cannot be called keeping her safe,” Anakin said sourly. “And Tatooine is a horrible dirtball of a planet.”

  
“Hey!” Luke objected. Kiri patted his shoulder sympathetically. Privately, they agreed with Anakin, but they at least had the sense not to say that within earshot of Luke.

  
Obi-Wan finally emerged from his hands. “Oh, and what would you have suggested? Giving them to the Emperor?”

  
“Of course not,” Anakin said indignantly. He paused.

  
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows, leaning forward and looking at Anakin attentively, waiting to hear what he’d say next. Luke and Kiri watched him curiously. The silence stretched longer. Kiri giggled silently, knowing full well that Anakin had no kriffing clue what he would have done with a toddler and infant twins by himself.

  
“Well?” Obi-Wan asked patiently. “Surely, since you alone know what’s best for your children, you’ve come up with an idea of where they should have been raised by now.”

  
“They _should have_ been raised with Padmé and me,” Anakin said petulantly.

  
“If only,” Obi-Wan said. “But for that to have been possible, everything would have had to happen very differently, starting with you not falling to the dark side at all, and ending with the Jedi defeating Darth Sidious before he could become the Emperor in the first place. It’d have to be an entirely different universe for you to be able to raise your children with Padmé. So, since we live in a universe where you very much did fall to the dark side and Sidious did in fact rise to become Emperor, what choices were we left with that would have been better than what we did?”

  
Anakin mumbled something even his mask couldn’t properly translate.

  
“Pardon?” Obi-Wan said innocently.

  
“I suppose you were… right,” Anakin said, as if every word pained him. “If you had to give Leia to any senator, Bail was the best choice. And sending Luke to his only other family members was smart.”

  
“I agree,” mumbled Luke, but he hadn’t really tried to be an active participant in the conversation for a while, and didn’t seem to mind when no one responded.

  
“It certainly worked very well in keeping him a secret from both you and the Emperor,” Obi-Wan said. “And Leia being the daughter of a prominent family meant you’d never suspect she was yours. They both lived in happy, loving homes for the entirety of their childhoods. I wonder why you don’t place more value on that.”

  
Kiri got tired of standing and pulled out the chair between Obi-Wan and Anakin, sitting gratefully. “I really do wonder why Padmé didn’t tell you she’d had a baby,” they said. “Everything might have been different, if you’d known.” They didn’t mention that _their_ childhood had been less than happy and loving. Obi-Wan didn’t know about what Kiri’s adopted parents had done, and anyway it hadn’t been his choice to send Kiri to them in the first place.

  
“It’s useless to speculate,” Obi-Wan said firmly. “This entire conversation was pointless. It’s all in the past, and cannot be undone. What we should discuss now, Anakin, is what you intend to do now that you know everything.”

  
Anakin shrugged. “Take down the Emperor, of course.”

  
“It’s not that simple,” Obi-Wan said. “Do you have an actual plan for how you’re going to do that, or are you just going to run in with your lightsaber blazing and run him through? And what will you do once he’s dead? Take over as Emperor? Restore the Republic?”

  
“The Empire will be no more,” Anakin said vehemently. “We’d put someone competent in charge. Not me, obviously.”

  
Luke piped up. “We should talk to the rebellion,” he said. “They probably have good ideas for what they’ll do once the Empire falls.”

  
Obi-Wan nodded approvingly. “An excellent idea, Luke. They should be told about Anakin’s decision to defect from the Empire anyway. That will be huge news to them.”

  
“First things first,” Anakin interjected. “I want to meet my daughter.”

  
“Oh, that’ll be easy,” Kiri said. “You’d have met her by going to join the Alliance anyway. She’s one of its leaders.”

  
Kiri could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed their words. Obi-Wan had hidden his face in his hands again. Luke had lit up at the idea of his sister being in the rebellion. And Anakin seemed not to know how to react to that. From the waves of emotion coming off him in the Force, he was angry, completely unsurprised, worried, and extremely proud all at the same time. His outward reaction was much less complicated.

  
He merely sighed and said, “I suspected she might be. She’s got so much of her mother in her. Padmé would have never stood for letting the Empire continue.”

  
Kiri wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Well, I know where the Alliance is right now, and I can take you there whenever you want. But I’m pretty sure that Leia and Bail are on Alderaan at the moment.”

  
Obi-Wan frowned. “We can’t exactly take an Imperial Star Destroyer to Alderaan. It would attract far too much attention.”

  
“We shouldn’t take any ship that would be recognized as belonging to the Empire,” Anakin added. “I’m recognizable enough by myself; we don’t need to be announcing my presence from orbit.” He looked at Kiri.

  
“Oh, no,” they said, waving their hands for emphasis. “My ship is _not_ big enough to fly the two of you halfway across the galaxy.” They pointed between Anakin and Obi-Wan. The _Tenacity_ would fit them, certainly, but the only way Kiri would survive the trip is if they were both silent the entire time, and there was a higher chance of the Emperor suddenly deciding to step down from the throne.

  
“Do you have any other suggestions?” Obi-Wan asked. “It isn’t as if we’ve got a large selection of ships to choose from.”

  
“I will not trap myself in the same tiny ship as both of you for a multi-day flight,” Kiri said firmly.

  
“We can take the _Devastator_ most of the way,” Anakin said. “I’ll leave it at the Kuat shipyards under the guise of needing repairs, and then we can take Kiri’s ship from there.”

  
Kiri shrugged. “Works for me,” they said.

  
“It’s a good plan,” Obi-Wan agreed. He hummed thoughtfully. “You should find a new name for your ship, Anakin.”

  
Anakin laughed. “What good would that do? It’s still a warship built by and supposedly serving the Empire. Maybe we’ll use it to _devastate_ the Empire’s fleet.”

  
“That’s not a pun,” Obi-Wan said. He turned to Luke, who was still standing several feet away from the table. He’d been passively watching them the entire time. Now, he took a step back, like he was hoping they wouldn’t notice him there and just leave immediately for Kuat. “I suppose we’ll need to take you back down to the surface,” Obi-Wan said.

  
“Can’t I come too?” he asked, clasping his hands pleadingly. “I want to meet Leia and everyone else just as much as you do.”

  
“Your uncle made it very clear you’re not allowed to go further than this ship,” Obi-Wan said. “I’m not the one who is giving or denying permission.”

  
Luke turned his puppy-dog eyes on Anakin. “Father,” he said beseechingly. “You want me to come, don’t you? We could finally get to know each other after so long apart.”

  
“It’s only right that we should all be together,” Anakin said. “I’ll ask the quartermaster to prepare rooms for you both.”

  
Obi-Wan held up a hand. “Now, hold on a moment. We still need to take Luke back to the surface, if only long enough for him to pack a bag and explain to Owen and Beru where he’s going, and why.”

  
Anakin shrugged. “We could always let them know by comming them,” he said. “We’ve got everything Luke could need on the ship already.”

  
Obi-Wan fixed Anakin with a stern look. “We will do this properly, Anakin. They’re your relatives too, remember, and you should treat them with respect. Really, what you should do is go to the surface with Luke, so that you can explain for him.”

  
“Absolutely not,” Anakin said immediately. “I’d never get the sand out of my prosthetics.”

  
“I could grab a few of my tools to help you with that,” Luke said. “I mean, there’d still be some, probably, but I’ve gotten pretty good at cleaning sand out of droids.”

  
“I’m not a droid,” Anakin said irritably. “I'm perfectly capable of cleaning my prosthetics myself.”

  
“Great!” Luke said. “Then you can come back to the farm with me!”

  
Anakin, realizing he’d backed himself into a corner, sighed and nodded reluctantly.

  
Kiri crossed their arms. “I suppose you want me to fly you all back down there, huh.”

  
“Well, you are the only one with a functional, non-Imperial ship,” Obi-Wan said. “How else do you expect us to get there? Falling? Astral projection through the Force?”

  
Kiri stood. “Let’s get going then. We’ll have to hurry if we want to catch them before they’ve gone to bed for the night.”

  
The other three nodded, and followed Kiri out of the room. On the way to the hangar, Anakin commed the captain to let him know that he’d be leaving the ship briefly. Aside from that, no one spoke until they were aboard the _Tenacity_ , clustered together in the cockpit.

  
Anakin moved as if to sit in the pilot’s seat at the same moment Kiri did.

  
“Excuse me,” Kiri said. “But I’ll be the one flying my own ship, if you don’t mind.”

  
“Right,” Anakin said awkwardly. “Sorry. It’s just, she reminds me so much of a ship I used to have during the Clone Wars, called the _Twilight_.” He looked around the cockpit.

“The _Tenacity_ is a Corellian G-9 Rigger freighter, isn’t she?”

  
“Ships don’t have genders,” Kiri responded, settling into their seat and beginning their preflight checks. “And yes, it is.”

  
“I thought so,” Anakin said. He’d contented himself by claiming the co-pilot’s chair. “That’s the same type of ship the _Twilight_ was.”

  
“Are you trying to tell me my ship is an outdated hunk of junk?” Kiri asked with an edge to their voice. They didn’t take kindly to insults about the _Tenacity_ , implied or otherwise.

  
“Just the opposite, in fact,” Anakin said quickly. “It’s in excellent condition.”

“It’d better be after all the hours and credits I’ve put into maintaining it,” Kiri said. “Alright, we’re ready to go. Is everyone strapped in?”

  
Obi-Wan and Luke responded affirmatively. Kiri took them slowly out of the hangar and away from the _Devastator_. They could tell Anakin was itching to take control and fly the ship himself.

  
“Settle down, Anakin,” Kiri said. “You might be the best pilot in the galaxy, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t also be good at flying.”

  
“Who said I was the best in the galaxy?” Anakin said, resting his hands in his lap with difficulty.

  
“Obi-Wan,” Kiri said, pointing at him with a thumb over their shoulder.

  
“Really?” Anakin said, twisting in his seat to look at his old master. “He actually said that, huh? Never would have guessed. He used to complain about my flying.”

  
“Only when I had the misfortune to be in the ship with you,” Obi-Wan responded teasingly. “At least your children fly sensibly.”

  
Kiri suddenly felt rather torn, wanting both to fly gently to satisfy Obi-Wan, and wanting to show Anakin what they could do. It was such a short, boring trip back to the surface of Tatooine that they settled for an easy, gentle flight. But they resolved to bring out the fancier tricks they knew later and really impress Anakin.

  
When they landed on the farm, Obi-Wan and Luke rose out of their seats with twin sighs, neither of them looking forward to the coming conversation. Anakin, however, seemed to be fused to his chair.

  
“Are you okay?” Kiri asked, touching his shoulder.

  
“I’m fine,” he said, sounding far more mechanical than he ever had. He rose suddenly out of his seat. “Let’s get this over with.”

  
Unconvinced, Kiri took his arm in both of theirs and walked with him out of the ship and into the Tatooine evening. He stumbled as his feet hit the sand. Kiri steadied him and tightened their grip. They didn’t ask if he was okay again, getting the feeling he’d just deflect the question and insist he was fine no matter how many times they asked. He’d pulled his mental shields tightly around himself, and wasn’t letting Kiri feel anything from him at all.

  
By the time they’d made it down the ramp to the courtyard, Obi-Wan and Luke were already in the kitchen with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Kiri could hear their voices clearly. Anakin’s breathing seemed to get rougher as Kiri led him through the house. It was much louder and harsher than normal, and that was really saying something. Before they’d even reached the kitchen, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had come out, no doubt wondering what the noise was.

  
“Who’re you?” Uncle Owen asked suspiciously.

  
“Uncle,” Kiri said. “This is Anakin.”

  
Uncle Owen’s eyebrows shot up into his hair. “Didn’t you die with the rest of the Jedi?” He looked up and down at Anakin’s suit, no doubt wondering why Anakin was wearing it.  
There was a long, awkward pause. Kiri mentally kicked themself. They’d completely forgotten that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had spent the last twenty years thinking Anakin had died.

  
“Um,” Anakin said. “No. I—It’s a long story.”

  
Uncle Owen hummed in displeasure, but he accepted that. “Well, Luke’s been a good kid in your absence. Though I suppose he’s real happy to have you back now.”

  
“Yes, he seemed quite excited earlier,” Anakin said.

  
“Let’s all go into the kitchen, shall we?” Aunt Beru said kindly. “It’s more comfortable in there.”

  
They all settled around the kitchen table. Kiri, Obi-Wan, Luke, and Anakin all glanced between each other awkwardly. None of them were certain of how to begin the conversation.

  
“Owen, Beru,” Anakin said at last. “Now that I’ve met Luke, I was hoping to get to know him better, and make up for my long absence in his life. I’m taking a trip to the Core, and I was hoping Luke could come with me. For some father-son bonding.”

  
“I might not be opposed,” Aunt Beru said, “since he is your son and not ours, if only I knew what you’d spent the last twenty years doing, and why you couldn’t be here for him. We raised him from infancy; we’ve taken care of him because you couldn’t. We thought you were dead.”

  
Anakin wilted before her, unable to give any response. He couldn’t possibly tell them the truth.

  
Kiri took pity on him. “When the Empire rose, we were all separated,” they said. “Luke and I have a sister, too. She was raised by a third family. It was to keep all of us safe from the Emperor. If Anakin had stayed with any of his children, we would all have been in a lot more danger.”

  
“But letting us think he was dead?” Aunt Beru said. “You couldn’t even tell us the truth?” She looked from Kiri to Obi-Wan. “You told us Anakin was dead when you brought Luke to us. Why did you lie?”

  
“Beru,” Obi-Wan said gently. “At the time, I did fully believe him to be dead. I thought I saw him die.”

  
There was a spike of tension from both Obi-Wan and Anakin at that statement. Wisely, neither commented on the reasons for it.

  
Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru accepted this explanation reluctantly. It was close enough to the truth, for now. At the very least, it wasn’t an outright lie.

  
“Alright,” Aunt Beru said at length. “You can take Luke with you, for a while anyway. But someday you’ve got to come back and tell us that long story, every bit of it.”

  
“I give you my word,” Anakin said solemnly. Obi-Wan shot him a look that he calmly returned. Kiri felt his resolve. Part of making amends was owning up to what he’d done. It might be hard to face, but he wouldn’t back down.

  
“Thank you,” Luke said enthusiastically, getting up and circling around the table to pull his aunt and uncle into a tight hug.

  
“Will you leave tonight, or tomorrow morning?” Uncle Owen asked. He was clearly hoping Luke would say tomorrow morning.

  
“Tonight,” he said. “I can sleep on Father’s ship. There’s not enough room for everyone here, and I don’t want to make Kiri taxi everyone back and forth from here too many times.”

  
“Let me pack you some snacks,” Aunt Beru said, rising to rummage about the kitchen. “Go pack your things; I’ll have everything ready when you come back.”

  
Luke dashed out of the room, crossing the courtyard to his bedroom on the other side of the house. Kiri might’ve gone with him if the tension in the kitchen hadn’t still been so high. They wanted to stay to make sure nothing horrible happened between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Uncle Owen.

  
Luckily, Luke packed swiftly, and it was only a few minutes before he returned with a bulging bag over his shoulder. Aunt Beru handed him a smaller pack filled with food. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and bid everyone good night, leaving the room.

  
“Don’t get into any trouble out there,” Uncle Owen said. He was speaking mostly to Luke, but he looked around at the other three, making it clear he was including all of them in it. He hugged Luke gently. “Have a good time, Luke.”

  
The four of them crossed back through the courtyard quickly. It was already quite dark there, but when they reached the top of the ramp, Kiri saw a magnificent double sunset. The sky was tinged orange and pink and red in a brilliant display of color. They gasped quietly.

  
“Your first Tatooine sunset?” Luke asked, smiling. “It’s my favorite time of day, personally. I like the way the sky turns so many colors.”

  
“It reminds me a lot of sunsets on Coruscant,” Obi-Wan chimed in. “Though there was one less sun, of course. But the sky was just as beautiful.”

  
“I used to hope the sunset meant tomorrow would be a better day,” Kiri and Anakin said at the same time. They looked at each other, startled.

  
Kiri laughed. “We have a lot in common, I guess. C’mon, let’s go before it gets too dark.”

  
They glanced back at the sunset one more time before they walked up the _Tenacity’s_ ramp. Before they’d left Nubia, their home planet, they’d watched the sunset every night, imagining what it’d be like on a planet with a different sun and a different sky, wondering if they’d ever get to see that. Kiri might not have liked Tatooine much, but they had to admit it had the prettiest sunset they had ever seen.

  
Anakin had lingered at the bottom of the ramp with them. He put a hand on their shoulder, offering silent support. He knew that Kiri hadn’t told Obi-Wan or Luke about the reasons they’d left Nubia. And Kiri didn’t know why he also used to look to the sunset for hope. But they didn’t need to know to be comforted by it. Together, they joined the others in the cockpit, and Kiri took them off Tatooine and back to Anakin’s ship waiting high above.


	5. The Gundark is Irrelevant (And Leia Reacts to Things)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin gets a message that one of his ships is being attacked by the Rebellion. The base on Yavin has been discovered. Anakin decides to intervene. The fact that Kiri told him Leia is also on base certainly has nothing to do with it. Kiri wants to save the rebels, but they're nervous about taking Anakin to the Alliance so soon.

Kiri’s suite had two bedrooms, so Luke took the other room and they spent the two-day trip to Kuat trading stories and getting to know each other. Obi-Wan was often there, and he delighted both of them with wild tales from Anakin’s padawan days and the Clone Wars. Close to the end of the trip, they persuaded Anakin himself to join them.

  
He settled onto the sofa in Kiri and Luke’s suite with a sigh. “The _Devastator_ is preparing to make its final jump to Kuat. We have a few more hours before arriving.”

  
“Good, that’s time for a few stories then,” Kiri said, looking at him eagerly. “We’ve heard so many from Obi-Wan, but you must have some good ones too.”

  
Anakin tapped a finger on his chin. “Has he told you about the time Count Dooku got captured by pirates?” he asked with amusement in his voice.

  
Obi-Wan shook his head. “That wasn’t exactly a very flattering mission for either of us, you realize.”

  
“No, but they’ll be very entertained by it,” Anakin said.

  
“Fine, but I’ll tell the first part—about the cave with the gundark,” Obi-Wan shot back. “Personally I think that’s the best part of the story anyway.”

  
“That happened before Dooku was captured,” Anakin said, pointing at Obi-Wan. “That’s not even part of the story.”

  
Before either of them could continue arguing, Anakin’s personal comm beeped. He stood and crossed the room to the bigger holoprojector in the corner, transferring the transmission to it before answering.

  
It was just a stormtrooper, but they must’ve been calling from a different ship in Anakin’s fleet—the holo was full of static, and there appeared to be falling debris in the background.

  
“ _Lord Vader,_ ” the trooper said, “ _We’re under attack by the rebellion. We need reinforcements, sir._ ”

  
“The _Devastator_ will be there immediately,” Anakin said. “Hold them off until we arrive.” He ended the transmission and turned to Kiri. “Did you know anything about this?”

  
Kiri shook their head. “When I left the base, they hadn’t been planning any direct attacks. I don’t know why they decided to attack.”

  
Anakin sighed. “Meeting Leia is important, but I need to take care of my men, too. I must intervene, and prevent more unnecessary death, on both sides.” He immediately began comming the bridge, presumably to give the captain new coordinates to jump to.

  
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Obi-Wan asked, putting a hand on Anakin’s arm. He gestured to Kiri and Luke. “Your ship will be attacked immediately upon entering the system.”

“No, he’s right,” Kiri said, standing. Luke nodded. “If we go, Anakin can order his men to surrender. We can help the Rebellion secure a victory while saving lives.”

  
“The _Devastator_ can withstand the rebels’ attack long enough to negotiate surrender,” Anakin said. He passed the order along to the bridge. A moment later, the ship jumped to hyperspace.

  
“Where is the battle happening?” Obi-Wan asked, crossing his arms. “That will help us form a plan.”

  
“That transmission came from the _Ultimatum_. They were on patrol near the Yavin system.”

  
Obi-Wan turned to Kiri. “Doesn’t the Alliance have a base there?”

  
Kiri nodded slowly. “I guess the Empire must’ve found them, so that’s why they’re attacking. To buy time to escape.”

  
Anakin tapped his chin. “They’re likely already in the process of evacuation, but if we’re able to successfully negotiate with them, they might not have to abandon their base. The _Devastator_ is the only ship currently within range to help the Imperial troops there. They only contacted us.”

  
Kiri frowned. “You mean, you’d openly switch sides? Use Imperial ships to help the Rebellion?”

  
Anakin nodded. “I _could_ play a double agent, and aide the Rebellion while appearing to remain loyal to the Empire, but I admit, I am impatient for a galaxy in which I can freely love my own children. Openly opposing the Empire is the fastest way to achieve that. But I will keep my activities from the Emperor as long as I am able. Drawing his attention will only make our task more difficult.”

  
Kiri beamed at him. They’d expected him to feign loyalty to the Emperor for as long as possible, but so far he’d offered only the barest excuses to Palpatine and gone right on doing whatever he wanted—which just so happened to be extremely helpful to the Rebellion. And if his reasons for being so helpful were a little selfishly clingy, Kiri didn’t mind. At this point all that mattered was that he was helping.

  
Obi-Wan merely stroked his beard thoughtfully. “You’ll have to be careful,” he said. “Palpatine is too clever to be fooled for long.”

  
Anakin looked at Obi-Wan in a manner that suggested _“oh, really?”_ even without having any expression whatsoever. “Don’t worry so much, old man. It may surprise you, but I do in fact have long-term plans.”

  
At least once a day, Obi-Wan did that little head-shake-and-face-palm gesture that said he was very nearly regretting his recent choices. Kiri wondered when he’d first started doing that. The day he’d met Anakin, probably. But there was always a deep fondness behind the action, so Kiri knew he would never change his mind, given the chance. Obi-Wan would never give up on Anakin.

  
“Fine,” he said, lifting his face from his hand. “We’ll go to Yavin and openly join the Rebellion, while somehow keeping this a secret from the rest of the Empire. A wonderful plan, truly.”

  
Kiri resettled on the sofa next to Luke. “Great, now that that’s settled, we can get back to telling stories. You said something about a gundark, Obi-Wan?”

  
Anakin jabbed a finger at Kiri. “No, _I’m_ telling that story. Forget the gundark; it’s irrelevant. The interesting part starts on Florrum.”

  
*

  
The _Devastator_ dropped out of hyperspace into chaos. The rebel fleet had grown in the months that Kiri had been gone. Dozens of ships were harassing the other Star Destroyer from Anakin’s fleet. They’d managed to damage it extensively, but it was still holding out. TIE fighters swarmed all around it, trying to defend it, but though the Empire outnumbered the Rebels, it looked like the Empire’s pilots were thoroughly outmatched.

  
The instant the rebels realized that another Star Destroyer had arrived, they began attacking. The corridor shook faintly as Kiri and the others rushed toward the hangar. Garbled transmissions coming through from the other Imperial ship told them that there was a skirmish happening on the surface as well, near the base itself. Anakin had decided to go to the surface in hopes of finding whoever was in charge.

  
“The minute the _Tenacity_ leaves the hangar, take the _Devastator_ back into hyperspace,” Anakin ordered through his comm. “Go only as far as the next system and stay ready for battle.”

  
The group reached the hangar, finding it empty. It was eerie seeing the deck abandoned in the middle of a battle, but Anakin had issued strict orders that no one on the _Devastator_ was to engage. Everyone that wasn’t on duty had gone back to their quarters. Kiri sprinted for the _Tenacity_ , leaping into their seat and firing up the engines while the others boarded and strapped themselves in.

  
Kiri flew out of the hangar and into the fray. Behind them, the _Devastator_ disappeared back into hyperspace. In front of them, the battle raged. Kiri grinned, holding the flight controls in an easy, confident grip. Now Anakin would see what they could really do with a ship. They deftly wove in and out through the battlefield.

  
At first, it seemed neither the Empire nor the Alliance really knew what to do about the _Tenacity_ entering the battlefield. It’d come from an Imperial ship, yet it was clearly not of Imperial design. And Kiri wasn’t shooting at anyone—their goal was to get through the battle to the surface, not to take out other fighters. But after a few minutes, they’d picked up a trail of TIEs following them. That might have something to do with the giant Alliance symbol Kiri had painted on the wing just a few hours ago.

  
“Hey, Anakin?” Kiri called out calmly. “Want to do something about that?”

  
Anakin sighed and reached for the ship’s comm. He hailed the fighters following them and told them to back off. A moment after they’d split and left Kiri alone, two X-wings took their place. Clearly the rebel pilots had decided that anyone who could send TIEs off like that must be Imperial, Alliance symbol or not. Irritated, Kiri reached for the comm themself.

  
“This is the _Tenacity_ , serving the Alliance. I’m Kiri Narvoth, pilot five of the green squadron—can you please stop trying to shoot me? I’m on your side,” they said. After a moment, they remembered to also provide their clearance code.

  
“How’d you get those TIEs to back off, if you’re with the Alliance?” asked one of the X-wing pilots. “And why did you come from an Imperial Star Destroyer?”

  
Kiri grinned. “I picked up an Imperial defector. I’m trying to get him to the surface so he can help the Alliance and stop this fight.”

  
For a moment there was just static from the other pilot. Then they came back and said, “That must be a hell of a story. Alright, keep going, but be careful down there. No one up here is really sure what’s going on dirtside since the comms went down.” The X-wings peeled off to reengage the Imperial fighters. Kiri immediately increased the ship’s speed, taking them toward the surface as fast as they dared.

  
They went straight to the base, even though the fighting was sure to be heaviest there, because they figured the best way to stop a battle was by going to the middle of it. Kiri tried to hail the command center, but the Imperials must have been blocking that frequency. One of the X-wing pilots _had_ said the comms were down, but Kiri had been hoping that a shorter range would help them get through. Apparently not. That meant their chances of being shot at from both sides were very high, since they had no way of explaining who they were and why they were arriving in the middle of a fight.

  
As they approached, Kiri glanced at Obi-Wan and Anakin. “So how do we want to do this? Obi-Wan goes out so the rebels don’t kill us and talks to them? Anakin goes out so he can tell the Imperials to leave?”

  
“I will go out first,” Anakin said, ignoring the look Obi-Wan shot him. “Sending Obi-Wan may tell the rebels we’re on their side, but it will also make him a target. And it isn’t a good idea to advertise the presence of a Jedi, even to troops loyal to me. I can send them all away, and we can reassure the rebels after they’re gone.”

  
“The rebels will only try harder to kill us all if they see you first,” Obi-Wan argued. “If you were still serving the Empire your presence would mean death for them all, and they know that.”

  
“I think Anakin’s right,” Luke said quietly.

  
Everyone turned to him, surprised. Kiri agreed, and had been about to say that, but they would’ve thought Luke agreed with Obi-Wan.

  
“The rebels will stop shooting the moment they see you, Obi-Wan,” Luke continued. “At least, they won’t shoot at _you_. We should make the Imperials leave first so we’re not trying to give explanations in the middle of a battle.”

  
Obi-Wan opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed. “I really don’t know what I expecting from three Skywalkers,” he said, shaking his head. “Fine. We’ll do it Anakin’s way. Kiri, try not to get us killed in the landing. That’s one way I really hope you _don’t_ take after your father.”

  
Kiri smiled as Anakin protested loudly to Obi-Wan’s teasing. They set the _Tenacity_ down gently on the landing platform closest to the base’s main hangar. Imperial troops and rebels were all over, and there were blaster shots going in all directions. When the _Tenacity_ landed, there was a brief pause in the shooting as both sides tried to figure out who the new arrivals were. Then the Imperials began aiming for the ship, clearing deciding it wasn’t on their side.

  
“Showtime,” Kiri said to Anakin, busily flipping switches to send more power to the _Tenacity’s_ shields. “Please tell them to leave my ship alone.”

  
Anakin stood and left without a word, striding confidently down the ramp. Kiri had noticed he never moved faster than an arrogantly casual saunter, even while being shot at.

  
“You’ll want to watch this,” Obi-Wan said, gesturing to the cockpit’s door. He was suggesting they stand in the cargo bay, safe from blaster fire but with a better view than from the cockpit.

  
“What makes you say that?” Kiri asked.

  
“Because these sorts of situations are always entertaining if Anakin is involved,” he answered, stepping through the door. Luke and Kiri quickly followed.

  
The scene before them was chaotic. Anakin had walked right out into the middle of the battle with his lightsaber lit, flicking it from side to side as needed to block blaster fire from any direction. The Imperial troops seemed to be extremely confused. Some of them were still shooting at the _Tenacity_ , clearing convinced that it was still an enemy’s ship, despite their commanding officer coming from it. The rest had turned back to the base. The rebels had panicked the moment Anakin had stepped out. None of them seemed to notice that he was batting blaster bolts into the ground rather than back at anyone. Many of them were running for the base, terrified.

  
Anakin went to the middle of an open space and swished his lightsaber in a very specific sequence. Then he turned it off and slowly turned in a circle, making field signals with both hands to all the Imperial troops. “Cease fire immediately,” he said calmly, his voice carrying easily across the battlefield.

  
“Those were signals the two of us invented for our troops,” Obi-Wan said softly. “The lightsaber signals, I mean. The hand signs were standard field signs, used across the army. He must have taught them to the stormtroopers under his command.”

  
The Imperials had stopped firing. Kiri picked up on their confusion, but none of them stopped to question the order. An officer stepped out from around the crate they’d been sheltering behind and walked nervously toward Anakin while the regular troops around them all lowered their blasters. Anakin turned to speak with the officer. Kiri leaned out cautiously to try and hear what they were saying, but they were speaking too quietly.

  
“They’re asking him what new orders he has,” Obi-Wan said quietly.

  
Kiri raised an eyebrow. “You can hear them?”

  
“The Force aids my senses. It takes training,” he answered, more focused on the exchange in front of them. “This officer is clever. He’s essentially asking why Anakin has ordered a ceasefire and full retreat while being very careful not to actually question Anakin’s authority. Anakin is explaining that, due to the number of troopers the Imperial army has lost with very little progress made, he’s decided that he will subdue the rebels and take the base himself, while the troops regroup in orbit to recover from the battle.”

  
The officer saluted and turned from Anakin, shouting orders to the stormtroopers who were still milling about in confusion. They immediately began to retreat, some running for the tree line, and others running from body to body sprawled across the battlefield. Some of them, the walking troopers carefully lifted, and others they simply left behind.

  
“They’re taking their wounded,” Kiri realized. “Do stormtroopers usually do that?”

  
“Usually there aren’t any wounded to take,” Obi-Wan said. “They either win or they all die. I wonder what they make of Anakin specifically ordering them to take the wounded with them.”

  
“They probably think that thinking too much will get them killed,” Kiri said, watching the troopers scurry away. They were efficient, at least; within minutes, all living Imperial troops were gone. The entire time, the rebel soldiers had simply watched and let them leave, clearly waiting to see exactly what Anakin was going to do before acting.

  
Anakin, for his part, had watched his troops leaving, making sure that they all really left for the Destroyer in orbit. The moment they were all out of sight, he turned to face the wide open hangar door, where a large group of rebels had gathered. He held his arms out wide to the side, his lightsaber in his hand but not lit.

  
“Ah, that’s my cue,” Obi-Wan said. “Take this,” he said to Kiri, pressing something into their hand. Then he exited the ship, walking calmly toward Anakin.

  
Kiri and Luke looked down at what Obi-Wan had given them. It was a lightsaber, but not Obi-Wan’s.

  
Kiri knew it wasn’t Obi-Wan’s because he had ignited his as he advanced toward Anakin, holding it up in front of his face and carefully showing the blue blade to the rebel forces. He was about two-thirds of the way between the _Tenacity_ and Anakin when Anakin lowered the arm that wasn’t holding his saber and raised the hand that was in Obi-Wan’s direction. Obi-Wan reached out with his left hand and casually pulled Anakin’s saber to him, gently clipping it to his belt.

  
“I wonder if they practiced that,” Kiri muttered to Luke.

  
Once he had Anakin’s lightsaber, Obi-Wan adjusted his path to instead walk past Anakin, aiming now for the cluster of rebels. Several of them raised their blasters at him.

  
“When do you think we should go out there?” Luke asked. “You’re a rebel, aren’t you? They know you.”

  
“Yes and no,” Kiri asked. “I’m a pilot for them, when I’m on base to pilot ships. But most of the time I was with Ahsoka, training. I didn’t spend much time around the general rebel population. A few officers might recognize me, and my squadron would for sure, but probably not many of the people in the hangar. Anyway, I think we should wait for-”

  
Anakin turned his head toward the Tenacity and gestured slightly with one hand. It was a _“what are you doing come here,”_ gesture.

  
“That, I guess,” Kiri said. They stepped out of the ship cautiously. Another rebel raised their blaster, aiming for Kiri, and Luke right behind them. Kiri hastily clipped the lightsaber they were still holding to their belt and raised their arms above their head. Behind them, Luke did the same. They walked forward, not going to Anakin, but not quite going to Obi-Wan either.

  
“Greetings,” Obi-Wan said loudly when he was close enough to the rebels. “I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master and a friend to the Rebel Alliance. I assure you, I am not here to harm any of you, and neither is Vader, though I understand that part may be difficult to believe.” He turned off his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. “We are here to negotiate a ceasefire between you and the attacking Imperial force. Vader has already ordered a full retreat.” Obi-Wan glanced over his shoulder at Kiri and Luke. “And I’ve come with other allies as well. One is Kiri, who is Ahsoka Tano’s padawan. They are the one who brought me here.”

  
Kiri saw some of the rebels relax slightly at the mention of Ahsoka. They might not have been on base with her often, but it had been enough that many people knew of her by name if not by sight. The two rebels aiming at Kiri and Luke turned to aim at Anakin instead.

  
The group of soldiers parted suddenly to let a small figure dressed all in white through to the front. It was Leia, and she was holding a blaster. For the moment, it was pointed at the ground, but Kiri knew she was ready to shoot if necessary. “Master Kenobi,” she said. “We thought you were in hiding. Ahsoka certainly didn’t seem to know where you’ve been all these years. How did Kiri find you when she couldn’t? Why have you come to us now? And why is he with you?” she asked, gesturing at Anakin with her chin.

  
Obi-Wan gestured for Kiri and Luke to come stand near him. They did. “Circumstances changed enough for me to seek you out,” he said. “That is to say, these two were determined to come here, and I swore an oath to protect them. Vader is here because he has decided to defect from the Empire.”

  
Leia stared at Obi-Wan, dumbfounded. “I’m sorry, you expect me to believe that _Darth Vader_ has betrayed the Empire and wants to join the Rebel Alliance?” She shook her head. “Of course, I’m sure you’re sincere, but that- that’s difficult to accept without question.”

  
“Please,” Obi-Wan said. “Just hear him out.”

  
Leia hesitated for a moment. Then she raised her blaster up to her shoulder, pointing it upward. “Alright,” she said. “I will, because you asked me to, and you’re my father’s friend. I trust you because he trusts you. But if Vader even twitches in a way I don’t like I won’t hesitate to shoot him.”

  
Obi-Wan gestured over his shoulder for Anakin. He approached slowly, coming to stand between Obi-Wan and Kiri and slightly behind them both. At Leia’s nod the group of rebels moved to surround him, gently but firmly coming between Anakin and the others.

  
“Princess Leia,” Anakin said, ignoring the rebels around him. “I assure you, I have not come to harm you.”

  
“Then what have you come for, Vader?” Leia asked coldly. “Your reputation and title contradict your words.”

  
“I ordered all Imperial forces to retreat,” he said. “I’ve come to negotiate the complete surrender of the Imperial troops here on Yavin. What Obi-Wan says is true; I have turned my back on the Empire, and I wish to aide the Alliance in dissolving the Empire completely.”

  
Leia scoffed. “You’ve been serving the Empire loyally for twenty years. What reason could you possibly have for suddenly changing your mind? Did you just wake up one morning and think, _‘hm, I don’t feel like being evil today?’_ ”

  
Kiri felt Anakin’s hesitation. He looked at them and Luke briefly, then returned his attention to Leia. “I found out that Anakin Skywalker has living children,” he said. “Children that are rightfully opposed to the Empire. For their sake if nothing else, the Empire must be destroyed.”

  
Leia frowned. “Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Knight. You killed all the Jedi, so wouldn’t you want to kill his children too? What could they possibly mean to you?”

  
“More than you could know,” Anakin said. “They must be kept safe, and the only way to keep rebels safe is to defeat whatever they are rebelling against.”

  
Leia’s frown softened slightly as she looked at Kiri, then Luke. “Is that who you are, then? Skywalker’s children?”

  
Kiri nodded. “We are,” they said proudly. Luke made a sound of affirmation and nodded also.

  
“I would love to hear the story behind how you convinced him to let you live,” Leia said, shaking her head. She looked at Anakin, steel in her eyes. “I don’t think all of your troops heard your orders to retreat. There are still battles being fought, on the surface and above. Tell them to get the hell out of our system, and then I’ll consider speaking to you more.”

  
“Very well,” Anakin said. He slowly lowered his hand to reach his holoprojector, holding it flat in his palm. He set it to the frequency the Imperial troops were using.

  
The image of a stormtrooper flickered into being above his hand. “Commander,” Anakin said. “It seems my orders haven’t been received by all units. Retreat to the _Ultimatum_ immediately. Take all injured men and leave no one and nothing behind. Hail the _Devastator_ and meet it at its current location.”

  
“Yes sir,” the commander said with a salute. “What about you, my lord? How will you get back to the _Devastator_?”

  
“I have my own ship. You will receive new orders soon, but for now, stay with the _Devastator_ and attend to repairs and injuries.”

  
“Understood, my lord. We will await your orders.” The commander began signaling the troops around him even as he signed off.

  
Anakin tucked the holoprojector back into his pocket and held his hand up in surrender again. “Satisfied, Your Highness?”

  
Leia’s face remained stern, but she nodded. “For now. Though I hope you won’t mind if we take you to our detention rooms first.”

  
“Not at all,” Anakin said. “I will cooperate fully with anything you need.”

  
“Good,” Leia said. She gestured sharply and the rebels prodded Anakin forward, escorting him through the hangar to the detention rooms. As promised, he went with them easily.

  
Kiri wished him luck mentally. They felt only calm resignation in return as he walked away.

  
After he was gone, Leia relaxed visibly. She turned back to Obi-Wan. “Master Kenobi,” she said, bowing. “I apologize for my hostile greeting. But the safety of my troops is my first priority. Please, if the three of you will accompany me, I’ll make some tea and we can talk.”

  
“I understand completely,” Obi-Wan said, returning her bow. “Lead the way, my lady.”

  
Leia looked at Kiri while they walked. “So, I take it your mission with Ahsoka didn’t quite go as planned. She hasn’t returned to base yet.”

  
Kiri shrugged. “She’s fine, if that’s what you’re asking. She supported my decision to leave her for my own mission.”

  
“Which was?”

  
They shrugged again, unsure how to answer without saying too much. “Finding Vader.”

  
“Because he killed your father?” Leia asked, curious. “It was him that did it, wasn’t it?”

  
Kiri exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan. “That’s what everyone thought,” they said carefully. It wasn’t time yet to tell her everything. “But our father is actually still alive. And even if he wasn’t, revenge is not the Jedi way. I didn’t seek out Vader for that.”

  
“Then why?” Leia asked, her curiosity overcoming her shields.

  
“I’m not really sure I’d be able to explain,” Kiri said honestly. They didn’t really know why they’d gone themself. “Anyway, when he heard my name, he decided not to kill me. That hadn’t been at all what I was expecting. I’d heard the stories, after all. But after traveling with him… There’s more to him than just killing people.” They glanced at Leia.

  
She seemed to be carefully considering their words. “I can’t imagine what you must have been feeling, not knowing whether you’d survive that encounter or not.”

  
Kiri fidgeted with the lightsaber on their belt. They’d been more than prepared for that, but they didn’t know how to explain that to Leia. “I can tell you the full story later, if you’d like,” they said instead of giving a real answer. They glanced at Obi-Wan and Luke. “They haven’t heard it either.”

  
Leia looked at them too. “Of course. When we sit down with our tea, I want to comm my father. He should know about this right away.”

  
Kiri nodded. They were disappointed that Bail wasn’t already on base, but it was good that Leia was going to ask him to come. He was the last person they’d have to explain Anakin’s change of heart to, hopefully. And then the real work could begin. It’d be good when they could do more for the Alliance without worrying about who knew what.

  
Kiri stiffened suddenly. Something was off, but they couldn’t quite place the feeling. They looked at Obi-Wan. “Do you feel that?” they asked.

  
Obi-Wan nodded. “They put Force-nullifers on him,” he said quietly. “What you’re feeling is his absence.”

  
Kiri blinked, surprised. It wasn’t terribly unusual, they supposed, that the rebels would take that precaution. But it was strange to abruptly be cut off from Anakin’s mind. He’d maintained light contact with Kiri ever since they’d first let him in. They shuddered to think about how it’d feel to wear Force nullifiers, and be unable to feel the warmth and energy around of everything around them. Even before they’d known what the Force was they’d had some awareness of other people’s emotions. They couldn’t imagine not having that.

  
Then again, for someone who’d been mired in the dark side for two entire decades, having a break from all that negativity might actually be a relief. The Force reflected back at you what it was given, after all. Someone who fed it only anger would have a hard time feeling anything else.

  
“It feels wrong,” Kiri said. Obi-Wan nodded, understanding exactly what they meant. Luke seemed to mostly understand, since he had also begun to form a bond with Anakin, but his wasn’t quite that strong yet that he might miss it. That would come with time and more training, if Luke wanted to be trained.

  
But Leia looked very confused. “Can you sense him?” she asked. “Without the restraints on, I mean.”

  
“Yes,” Obi-Wan said. “All Force-sensitive people can sense everyone around them. Between two Force-users, a mental bond can be formed, like a thread of awareness connecting them. It takes conscious effort, but it’s often done between allies and friends.”

  
“And the two of you have this bond with Vader?” she asked, skeptical.

  
“It may be difficult to understand why we would want that,” Obi-Wan said. “But Vader and I have a long history and a strong connection. And Kiri has grown close with him since they met him. It’s a positive thing, having that bond.”

  
“I’ll take your word for it,” Leia said. She turned a corner and went through an open door to a sparsely furnished lounge. “Sorry for the basic room. There’s not much space for luxury on a secret rebel military base.”

  
“This will do just fine,” Obi-Wan said with a smile. “Thank you, your Highness.” He seated himself against the far wall, facing the door. Luke and Kiri sat on either side of him.  
“First, may I say it’s an honor to meet you at last, Master Kenobi,” she said. “There wasn’t much time for pleasantries earlier. My apologies.”

  
“No need to apologize,” Obi-Wan said easily. “And please, just call me Obi-Wan. It’s been many years since I was anyone’s master.”

  
“If you insist,” Leia said. “Thank you for agreeing to sit and have tea with me.” She began preparing tea in the corner of the room. When it was ready, she served her guests and settled in the chair closest to the door. “If you don’t mind, I should comm my father, before we begin.”

  
She pulled out her comm and tried to contact Bail. She frowned when the connection failed. “There shouldn’t be anything wrong with our long-range comm system…” she muttered. Then she scowled. “Unless the Imperials are still blocking our frequencies. I should have made that a condition of allowing Vader on base.” She looked very much like she wanted to swear. She stood, presumably to go to the command center, but before she could leave her comm suddenly beeped.

  
Leia answered the call and did actually swear when she saw who it was. It was one of Anakin’s guards. “Please tell me this isn’t bad news,” she said.

  
_“No, your Highness. It’s good news. Vader just received a transmission from his ship in orbit. Your father is approaching the base.”_

  
“Vader’s ship is still in orbit? Tell him to tell it to leave already.”

  
_“He has already done so, Princess. And they have stopped scrambling our comms. You should be able to reach your father now.”_

  
Leia sighed. “I’m not sure how much I trust the source of this information. But thank you anyway.” She hesitated. “And thank Vader, too, for relaying the message, I suppose. I’ll send someone when we’re ready to interrogate him. It shouldn’t be long now that my father has arrived.”

  
_“Very well, Princess.”_ The guard signed off.

  
Leia sat back in her chair with a sigh. “I’m glad my father is nearly here,” she said. “While we wait, we have a few things to discuss. I wanted to speak with you before anyone speaks to Vader. I must admit, I’m struggling to understand why you trust him. He led the genocide of your entire people. You should hate him, but you don’t. Why?”

  
Obi-Wan sighed. Kiri patted his shoulder sympathetically. Leia was asking a heavy question, and none of them really had time to explain the full history between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. Obi-Wan looked at Kiri. “Is there anything you want to explain, or are you comfortable with me telling Leia everything?”

  
Kiri understood the implied question: _“Is it okay with you if I tell her that he’s really Anakin?”_ They appreciated his consideration, but Kiri thought that Leia needed to know everything to really understand. “You know more than I do, for most of it. I can chime in with the parts that you weren’t there for, but you can tell it your own way.”

  
Obi-Wan nodded and turned back to Leia. “I’m sure you realize that the answers to your questions aren’t simple or easy. I will do my best to explain, but it may take awhile.”

  
Leia folded her hands in her lap. “I can listen for as long as it takes.”

  
“Very well. To begin, you need to know Vader’s real name,” Obi-Wan said. Leia sat up a little straighter, her curiosity slipping through her shields again. Obi-Wan took a deep breath. “Vader was once a Jedi Knight just like me. He was, and is, Anakin Skywalker.”

  
The color drained from Leia’s face and her mouth opened in surprise. She was still facing Obi-Wan, but her gaze was light years away. She seemed to be remembering every time anyone had talked about Anakin to her. A long minute passed while Obi-Wan let her process the information. She closed her eyes and bent her head, taking a deep breath. When she looked up again, she seemed more present, more grounded. She looked at Kiri. “That means that you and Luke, you’re—well, you said that you’re Skywalkers. So _he’s_ your… your father,” she said.

  
Kiri nodded. “Yes, he is. It’s taken me months to adjust to it. It isn’t an easy thing to get used to.”

  
Leia shook her head. “No, it isn’t. Please, continue. I have so many questions,” she said to Obi-Wan.

  
“I don’t know what Bail and Breha might have told you about him,” Obi-Wan said. “Anakin was my padawan. When he betrayed me and joined the Empire… I was heartbroken. Despite everything he’d done, I spent nineteen years hoping that he would return to me as my friend once more. There was a part of me that always hoped there was still some shred of goodness in him. Maybe it was a foolish thing to hope for, but when Kiri arrived with Luke in tow and said they’d been sent by Anakin… Not Darth Vader, but _Anakin_ , I knew my hopes hadn’t been in vain.”

  
Obi-Wan looked very seriously at Leia. “Anakin never would have come to me at all if he wasn’t completely sincere and dedicated to his new path. I trust him because of my history with him, and I understand fully if that’s not enough for you to trust him, but I can say with complete confidence that he is here to help.”

  
Leia nodded slowly, taking it all in. She looked at Kiri, then at Luke. “The two of you only met him in person a few weeks ago. Why do you have such confidence in his trustworthiness?”

  
“There’s actually several reasons,” Kiri said. They took a moment to sort those reasons in their mind. “I’ve spent most of those weeks in his company, and for a lot of it we were alone together. He’s had countless opportunities to hurt me or kill me. Hell, the very first time I spoke to him I literally asked him to kill me, and he refused. And he’s been busy, since I met him. The first thing he did after meeting me was to go blow up the Emperor’s secret super-weapon. The next thing he did was trust me with the story of the last time he’d seen Obi-Wan, and the next thing after that was to take me to find Obi-Wan so he could apologize. He’s spent every waking moment of the last few weeks trying to change. It’s hard to watch that and still doubt him, honestly.”

  
“I suppose that’s true,” Leia said. “I just don’t understand how you can forgive him for everything he’s done.”

  
“I admit, he hasn’t done anything to hurt me personally,” Kiri said. “I could be angry that my chance to be raised in the Jedi Order and be trained from birth was stolen from me. I could be angry that I never got to meet my mother. But it’s difficult to miss what I never had. I can be angry on behalf of the people he has hurt personally. And if he didn’t want to atone for that, I never would forgive him. But he is trying. And for my sake, I need to let him change. I need to give him the chance to try to make things right.” They looked at Luke, then the floor, before finally looking at Leia again. “And honestly? If he helps take down the Empire, I can have a real family for the first time. He’s proven himself to be the opposite of my adopted parents, so far.”

  
Leia didn’t seem to know what to say to that. She looked between the three of them, clearly thinking.

  
“I have a different perspective, if it helps,” Luke said quietly. It was the first time he’d spoken since arriving on base. Leia seemed startled to actually hear him speak. “I hadn’t heard of Darth Vader before Kiri took me to meet him. I’ve only heard of the things he’s done in generalizations. I don’t know who he was is the past. But I’m beginning to know who he is today. And I can only judge what I know. Who he is today is different from who he used to be, and that’s enough for me.”

  
Leia looked surprised. “Thank you, Luke. That’s very helpful.” She nodded slowly. “And your view is too,” she added to Kiri. “I suppose growing up the daughter of a Senator who opposed the Empire has hardened my perspective of it.”

  
“Your perspective is just as valid as any of ours,” Obi-Wan reminded her. “Seek out other opinions if you want them, but form your own conclusions, and trust yourself. You don’t need to change how you feel about Anakin just because of what we said.”

  
“Thank you,” Leia said softly. Her comm beeped, and she looked down at it. “My father has landed. I want you all present when my father and I interrogate him, which means we’ll need to move him to a bigger room. There are rooms in a different part of the base we can use for that. Obi-Wan, Luke, you come with me to greet my father. Kiri, you go get Vader. Bring him to the conference room near the command center.”

  
Kiri nodded and left the room. The walk back to the detention rooms wasn’t terribly long, thankfully. They were in front of the door to Anakin’s cell shortly. The rebels guarding it looked at them.

  
“Leia sent me to get him,” they explained. The guards shrugged and stepped aside so Kiri could open the door.

  
The first thing they noticed as they entered the room were the heavy cuffs on Anakin’s wrists. Those must be the Force-nullifers. They frowned at them, but said nothing. Kiri couldn’t really protest the use of them, after all, even if they didn’t like it. They waved for Anakin to stand up. “It’s time. Leia says this room isn’t big enough, so we’re moving you elsewhere.” They glanced at the guard holding the key to Anakin’s cuffs. “Can I have that?” they asked, pointing to the key in his hand. When the guard nodded and held it up, Kiri used the Force to gently take it from him, tucking it into their pocket. The guard frowned, but Kiri didn’t care if he thought they should’ve have picked it up with their hand instead. They shouldn’t have to hide their abilities.

  
Anakin stood and walked around the table, ignoring the guards as they raised their blasters at him. Kiri looked around the room at each of them. They’d done their duty admirably well. Not many people could guard Vader without losing their nerve. Kiri walked next to Anakin as he left the room, leading him along the corridor toward the room Leia had mentioned.

  
Kiri unclipped the lightsaber Obi-Wan had pressed into their hand on the _Tenacity_. “Obi-Wan gave me this, back on the ship,” they said, holding it flat on their palm and showing it to Anakin. “It’s yours, isn’t it? It feels like you.”

  
“It was,” Anakin said. “I lost it in the fight on Mustafar.”

“Oh.” Kiri lowered it slightly. “You don’t want it back?”

“I think now is a poor time to be offering me weapons,” Anakin said. Kiri rolled their eyes. They hadn’t meant right this second. “But that aside, I think you should keep it. Or give it to Luke, perhaps. When it’s time for me to give up my red lightsaber, I’ll find a new crystal.”

  
Hm. Kiri hadn’t expected that, but they weren’t really surprised. It made sense that Anakin would want to move forward, even from something that was from a better period of his life. Kiri wasn’t sure if they wanted to keep the old lightsaber for themself. It didn’t quite fit comfortably in their hand. But Luke would probably like using it. Kiri could find a crystal for themself and make their own lightsaber. They clipped Anakin’s back to their belt, momentarily enjoying the weight of it at their hip.

  
They couldn’t think of anything else to say, after that. Nothing was really appropriate, given the circumstances. The silence wasn’t awkward, at least. Not anymore. After enough time with Anakin, Kiri no longer felt the need to fill every gap with talking. They could feel him looking at them as they walked. He hadn’t really stared at them like that before. Mostly he looked at their shoulders, or their hands. Now he was focused on Kiri’s face. They tried not to squirm under his scrutiny. Comfortable silence or not, it was hard not to stare right back at him. Not that there was much to see.

  
They turned the last corner and reached the conference room Leia and the others were waiting in. Kiri paused outside the door. They looked up at Anakin and smiled. “Good luck,” they said, feeling like that was extremely inadequate. “The Force will be with us, I know it.”

  
Anakin nodded. Kiri slipped into the room, finding their chair in the semicircle between Obi-Wan and Luke. Bail was in the center, with Leia on his right. Obi-Wan sat on his left. In the center of the room was a lone chair meant for Anakin.

  
He sat, offering no resistance as a rebel soldier chained him to the floor. Anakin regarded them all calmly, waiting for one of them to speak. Kiri felt uncomfortable sitting in the circle, feeling like they should be watching from the sidelines instead of on the panel of interrogators.

“Please, leave us,” Bail said to the rest of the rebels in the room. “We’ll be discussing confidential matters. Thank you for your assistance in guarding Vader and bringing him here. Go eat and rest; you’ve more than earned it.”

They all nodded, leaving quickly and closing the door behind them. A tense silence fell in their absence.

“Well,” Bail began, looking at Anakin. “I just saw you on Coruscant not so very long ago. And yet, it has been many years all the same. I once would have called you a friend,” he said.

Anakin bowed his head. He remained silent.

“Obi-Wan has explained much to me already, and Leia the rest. You are here to make amends. We’ll talk about how that might happen. But first, tell me this.” Bail leaned forward, his eyes steely. “Did you kill Padmé?”

Anakin raised his head. Kiri hadn’t been expecting Bail to ask that; they didn’t think Anakin had either.

“No,” he said. “Not directly. But I blame myself anyway; the precise cause of her death doesn’t matter if it was my actions that led to it.”

Bail looked at Obi-Wan. Of all of them in the room, he had been the only one to witness Padmé’s death. Obi-Wan nodded. Anakin was telling the truth. “How many children do you have?” Bail asked.

Kiri bit their lip. Leia was actually the only one who didn’t know the real answer to that. Why would Bail ask that now? Kiri and Obi-Wan had agreed to let Bail tell Leia, and he hadn’t done that yet.

“Three,” Anakin answered. “There are three. I knew of none of them until Kiri came to me a few weeks ago.”

“Does the Emperor know about any of them?”

“No. He believes my single child died with Padmé.”

Bail sat back. “Good. Now, before we continue, there’s one more thing I need to do.” He turned to look at Leia. She seemed confused. “Leia, darling. You know your mother and I adopted you at birth.”

She nodded slowly. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap.

“We wanted to tell you many years ago who your birth parents were, but it wasn’t safe,” Bail said. He sounded like he was afraid Leia would be angry with him. “If the Emperor knew, you’d be in even greater danger than you already are. Leia. Your birth mother was Padmé Amidala. Your birth father—Well. He’s Anakin Skywalker.”

Leia stood up so suddenly she pushed her chair backwards with a screech. Her hands were fists at her sides. She was looking at Bail, but she wasn’t angry at him. Kiri sucked in a breath at the force of her anger. It was directed only at Anakin. She looked at him, her jaw clenched. “You’ve known,” she said through gritted teeth. “All day, you’ve known.”

“Yes,” Anakin said. His shoulders drooped.

“Excuse me, Father,” Leia said, looking at Bail again. “I need a moment to get some air outside.”

Bail nodded. “Of course, dear.”

Leia managed to walk calmly across the room and out the door, but Kiri could feel her anger continuing to rise. “I’m going to talk to her,” they said, running after her.

They found her just outside the base, leaning against the mossy wall. Her face was raised to the sky as she watched the clouds drift past. “Leia?” Kiri said tentatively.

She looked down at them. “I’m sorry for running out,” she said. “I was just worried I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from punching a wall. Or him.”

Kiri chuckled. “I completely understand.”

“Were you angry, when you found out?” Leia asked quietly.

Kiri nodded vigorously. “I was livid, for months. Just ask Ahsoka the next time you see her. She took the brunt of it when we sparred.” Kiri snorted. “Then again, she still won most of those matches. Anger makes lightsaber battles sloppy.”

“How did you come to terms with it?”

Kiri shrugged. “That, I can’t really tell you. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

Leia sighed. “What if I can’t forgive him?”

Kiri put a hand on her shoulder. “Then you find your own way. It’s up to you whether you want a relationship with him. He’ll respect whatever you decide.”

She was silent for a while after that. She began watching clouds again. “So, you and Luke are my siblings. I admit, I wouldn’t have figured that out on my own.”

Kiri laughed. “Luke’s your twin, actually.”

Leia looked at them and smiled. “We’re not triplets?”

“Nope. I’m two years older than you,” Kiri answered.

“I’ve always wanted an older sibling,” Leia said. She was much calmer now.

“Well I’m happy to grant your wish,” Kiri said, laughing.

“Are you and Luke both Force-sensitive?” Leia asked. Kiri nodded. “Am I?”

“Probably,” Kiri answered. They turned and studied the pavement for loose rocks and pebbles. They found a good one and pulled it toward them. Then they took several big steps back from Leia. “Here, try to take this from me without walking over here.” They held their hand palm-up with the rock resting on top.

“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” Leia said. She put her hands on her hips. “I can’t do something I haven’t been taught how to do.”

Kiri smiled. “Close your eyes. You’ve got good mental shields, I’ve felt them. Lower them and reach out until you sense me. Then, try to sense the rock in my hand. When you feel it, reach out your hand as if I was just an arm’s length away and you’re taking the rock. Then call it to you.”

Leia complied, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing. She held her hand out. The rock on Kiri’s palm wobbled and lifted slowly. Then it zipped into Leia’s open hand. She gasped and opened her eyes, looking at it. She grinned and held it up to show Kiri. “Look!” she said. “I did it!”

Kiri clapped. “That’s great!” They grinned, and grabbed several smaller pebbles. “Next lesson: dodge my missiles!” They threw a pebble at Leia and watched it bounce off her shoulder.

“Hey!” she protested even as she laughed. “Don’t throw things at me!”

“You won’t get hit if you dodge and deflect them!” Kiri said, shooting another at her. She held up an arm to protect her face.

“Oh, you’re on,” Leia said. She bent and grabbed a handful of her own pebbles from the ground. “Starting now, first one to get hit ten times has to help the mechanics repair X-wings tomorrow.”

“That’s too easy!” Kiri said. “I hope you’re ready to get nice and greasy.” They side-stepped to dodge Leia’s first throw and sent a return shot as they moved. Leia gasped and ducked under it at the last second.

“I guess you’ve never competed against a princess before,” she teased. “We really don’t like to lose!”

Kiri and Leia wasted much more time than they should have chasing each other around the landing platform, throwing rocks at each other. They both quickly lost count of who got hit more, but as Kiri ran and panted and laughed with their sister, they found they really didn’t care who won. It was just nice to enjoy her company and take a break from being a padawan, a rebel, and someone with responsibility for a few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay between updates. This chapter really gave me a lot of trouble. Writing Leia's reactions to everything was a major challenge, but I eventually figured it out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully chapter 6 will take less time to write.


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